Myanmar Junta Watches Monasteries

YANGON, Myanmar -

Myanmar's military government on Monday put monasteries under close watch and cut off the cell phone service of known dissidents to clamp down on the most sustained anti-government protests in a decade.

Demonstrations against the government raising fuel prices and the high cost of consumer goods began Aug. 19 with hundreds of people participating, but their numbers declined as some protesters were detained and toughs belonging to pro-government groups beat others.

Buddhist monks became the highest profile protesters and revived the movement last week after staging a peaceful march against economic hardship in the northern town of Pakokku. Soldiers stopped the march by firing warning shots in the air - the first time they have fired their guns during the recent protests - and government supporters roughed up some monks.

In retaliation, the angry monks next day temporarily took officials hostage and smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.

Over the weekend, monks formed a group called the National Front of Monks, according to the U.S. Campaign For Burma, which lobbies against the junta. The front has demanded that authorities apologize for the violence, reduce fuel prices, release all political prisoners and begin negotiations with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders.

It was impossible to get independent verification of the existence of the new group or its demands.

The involvement of monks prompted authorities to post plainclothes police and junta supporters for the first time at monasteries in the key Buddhist cities of Pakokku and Mandalay, as well as the country's largest city of Yangon, to prevent more protests by Buddhist clergy, witnesses said. Monks are held in high regard by the public, and mistreating them during protests could trigger great public ire.

Monks in Myanmar, also known as Burma, historically have been at the forefront of protests, first against British colonialism and later against military dictatorship. They played a prominent part in a failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising that sought an end to military rule in place since 1962.

The demonstrations have been well-publicized, with photos and videos smuggled out to opposition Myanmar media in exile, who then send their reports and images back by radio, satellite TV and the Internet.

Unconfirmed reports have said that the junta has arrested several people for sending abroad information about the protests.

Dissident figures still at large or in hiding - about a dozen top pro-democracy leaders were arrested two days after the protest began - reported Monday that their cell phone service had been cut. Several of them had been giving interviews over the past few weeks to exile media, including the Democratic Voice of Burma, a shortwave radio station based in Norway, and Mizzima News, an online service based in India.

"This is a complete violation of human rights," said Su Su Nway, a prominent labor activist who went into hiding after narrowly escaping arrest at a protest in Yangon. "This proves that the military government is using unlawful and underhanded means to hold its grip on power."

The junta held general elections in 1990, but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won. She has been detained under house for more than 11 of the past 18 years.

A government statement Sunday alleged that top activists planned terrorist acts and received tens of thousands of dollars from Western nations. It also alleged that prominent activist Htay Kywe, who escaped a security dragnet last month, was helped to hide by the embassy of a "powerful country" - an apparent reference to the United States, one of the regime's harshest critics.

The statement also implied that the United States was involved in the opposition groups' plans.

It said the U.S. funded National Endowment For Democracy was trying to sow unrest by donating $2.9 million for operations in Myanmar. The NED is a private, nonprofit organization funded chiefly by the U.S. government to promote democratic institutions around the world by providing cash grants to private groups.

"We reject the accusations and again urge the regime to stop arresting, harassing, and assaulting political activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations," said a statement received Monday by e-mail from Lloyd Neighbors, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Yangon.

At U.N. headquarters in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stepped up his pressure on Myanmar's military leaders, saying he was committed to working toward the "full democratization" of the country. He also urged the government to yield to international demands to release Suu Kyi.

It was Ban's strongest statement on Myanmar since the protests broke out last month. It also followed a phone call on Aug. 31 by First lady Laura Bush asking him to condemn the junta's treatment of dissidents and to press for the Security Council to prevent more violence in Myanmar.

Ban had earlier called on Myanmar to exercise maximum restraint in responding to protests and encouraged all parties to avoid provocative action, a statement critics of the junta considered weak.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed