China pleads for calm in Myanmar

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 09/27/2007 06:06:48 AM PDT

BEIJING—China issued an evenhanded plea for calm in Myanmar on Thursday after refusing to condemn the military-run government, while Southeast Asian nations expressed "revulsion" at the violent repression of the demonstrations.

The United States said it was imposing economic sanctions against 14 top officials in the military junta.

A statement issued after a foreign ministers' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting in New York strongly urged Myanmar's government "to exercise utmost restraint and seek a political solution."

The ASEAN ministers called for the release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.

"They expressed their revulsion to Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win over reports that the demonstrations in Myanmar are being suppressed by violent force and that there has been a number of fatalities," the statement said.

"They strongly urged Myanmar to exercise utmost restraint and seek a political solution," it said. "They called upon Myanmar to resume its efforts at national reconciliation with all parties concerned, and work towards a peaceful transition to democracy."

Myanmar is an ASEAN member, along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

China has come under increasing pressure to use its regional influence

to urge Myanmar's ruling junta to show restraint in dealing with the protests.

On Wednesday, China refused to condemn Myanmar and ruled out imposing sanctions, but for the first time agreed to a Security Council statement expressing concern at the violent crackdown and urging the country's military rulers to allow in a U.N. envoy.

The U.N. special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, headed for Myanmar at Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's request to try to promote a political solution and reconciliation efforts. U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Ban had been told by Win that Gambari "will be welcomed by the Myanmar government."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing that "China hopes that all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated."

The crackdown puts China in a bind. Its communist government has developed close diplomatic ties with junta leaders and is a major investor in Myanmar. But with the Beijing Olympics less than a year away, China is eager to fend off criticism that it shelters unpopular or abusive regimes.

China and Russia contend the situation in Myanmar is an internal affair and doesn't threaten international peace and security—as required for Security Council action—so getting them to agree to the press statement was considered a positive step.

The Bush administration announced that 14 senior officials in Myanmar would be subject to sanctions. Those targeted include the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, and the No. 2 man, Deputy Senior Gen. Maung Aye. The action freezes any assets the 14 have in U.S. banks or other financial institutions under U.S. jurisdiction, and also prohibits any U.S. citizens from doing business with those individuals.

At the United Nations on Tuesday, Bush accused Myanmar of imposing "a 19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand their freedom, and the American people stand in solidarity with these brave individuals," Bush said in a statement.

European Union diplomats agreed to consider imposing more economic sanctions on Myanmar. Sanctions were first imposed in 1996 and include a ban on travel to Europe for top government officials, an assets freeze and a ban on arms sales to Myanmar.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Beijing that the use of force by the junta "will solve nothing."

"We all need to agree on the fact that the Burmese government has got to stop thinking that this can be solved by police and military, and start thinking about the need for genuine reconciliation with the broad spectrum of political activists in the country," he added.

Hill was expected to discuss the violence in Myanmar with Chinese officials on the sidelines of North Korean nuclear disarmament talks this week in Beijing. He declined to say whether Washington would request specific measures from Beijing.

Among those killed Thursday was Kenji Nagai, a journalist for the Japanese video news agency APF News. Nagai, 50, had been covering the protests since Tuesday, APF representative Toru Yamaji said in Japan.

In Washington, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tokyo held Myanmar "strictly" accountable for Nagai's death. The 50-year-old journalist had been covering the protests in Yangon, APF representative Toru Yamaji said in Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Japan will lodge a protest with Myanmar, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. "We strongly protest the Myanmar government and demand an investigation" into the death, Machimura was quoted as saying by the official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, as saying. "We demand (Myanmar) take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the Japanese citizens in that country."

Japan is to dispatch Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka to Myanmar to protest Nagai's death, Kyodo News agency reported.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his government would also press Beijing to urge the junta to end its violent repression.

———

Associated Press writers Mari Yamiguchi in Tokyo, Foster Klug and Martin Crutsinger in Washington, Jan Sliva in Brussels, Belgium, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Myanmar police fire warning shots

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Thousands of Buddhist monks and pro-democracy activists marched toward the center of Yangon Wednesday in defiance of the military government's ban on public assembly.

A Buddhist monk holds an alms bowl upside-down as a symbol of protest.

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The march followed a tense confrontation between the protesters and riot police who fired warning shots, beat some monks and dragged others away into waiting trucks.

The junta had banned all public gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nighttime curfew following eight days of anti-government marches led by monks in Yangon and other areas of the country, including the largest in nearly two decades.

Firing shots into the air, beating their shields with batons and shouting orders to disperse, the police chased some of the monks and about 200 of their supporters, while others tried to stubbornly hold their place near the eastern gate to the vast shrine complex.

Some fell to the ground amid the chaos and at least one monk was seen struck with a baton.

When faced with a similar crisis in 1988, the government harshly put down a student-led democracy uprising. Security forces fired into crowds of peaceful demonstrators and killed thousands, traumatizing the nation.

A comedian famed for his anti-government jibes was the first well-known activist rounded up since the curfew.

Zarganar, who uses only one name, was taken away from his home by authorities shortly after midnight, with family members saying authorities told them the 45-year-old had been "called in for temporary questioning."

Zarganar, along with actor Kyaw Thu and poet Aung Way, led a committee that provided food and other necessities to the Buddhist monks who have spearheaded the protests. He earlier had been imprisoned twice and his comedy routines were banned for their satirical jokes about the regime.

The fates of the actor and poet were not immediately known.

Earlier Tuesday, the army began deploying troops in the heart of Yangon after tens of thousands of people led by barefoot monks in maroon robes defied orders to stay off the streets and marched for the eighth straight day against the junta.

Troops were also seen gathering at a military center in Mandalay and military trucks rumbled through the streets of both cities late into the night, witnesses said.

The potential for a violent crackdown had already aroused international concern, with pleas for the junta to deal peacefully with the situation coming from government and religious leaders worldwide. They included the Dalai Lama and South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both Nobel Peace Prize laureates like detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

President Bush announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, accusing the military dictatorship of imposing "a 19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma," Bush said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Bush said the U.S. would tighten economic sanctions on leaders of the regime and their financial backers, and impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for human-rights violations and their families.

The European Union also threatened to strengthen existing sanctions against the regime if it uses violence to put down the demonstrations.

"We reiterate our call on the authorities in Burma/Myanmar not to use violence against people who are committed to non-violence, and to pursue genuine reconciliation and negotiation," the statement said.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he is "extremely preoccupied" with the situation in Myanmar and planned to meet Burmese government opponents in Paris. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Suu Kyi should take her place as elected leader of the country, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the junta to exercise restraint in the face of the protests.

The protests could also bring increased scrutiny on China's close relations with Myanmar. China is the country's major trading partner and Chinese energy companies are investing in exploration of natural gas in Myanmar.

Myanmar has about 19 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, only about 0.3 percent of the world's total reserves, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy at the end of 2006. Although it doesn't currently export gas to China, its supply could potentially help feed a rapidly growing Chinese economy hungry for energy.

Myanmar's imposition of new restrictions after a week of relative inaction by the military government throws down a challenge to its opponents, testing their mettle when faced with almost certain arrest.

It was not clear what the penalty for defying the curfew would be. But breaking the section of the law restricting gatherings carries a possible jail term of two years.

The new restrictions were announced late at night, and many residents did not seem aware of them.

The current protests began on August 19 after the government hiked fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962.

The protests were faltering when the monks took the lead last week, assuming the role of a moral conscience they played in previous struggles against British colonialism and military dictators.

At least 35,000 Buddhist monks and sympathizers defied official warnings Tuesday and staged another anti-government march.

"The protest is not merely for the well-being of people but also for monks struggling for democracy and for people to have an opportunity to determine their own future," one monk told The Associated Press. "People do not tolerate the military government any longer." He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of official reprisals.

On Monday, a massive monk-led protest drew as many as 100,000 people in Yangon -- the biggest street protest since the failed 1988 uprising.

Authorities in cars cruised Yangon's streets Tuesday morning, announcing the clergy had been directed not to take part in "secular affairs" and saying that certain elements were trying to instigate unrest.

The head of the country's official Buddhist organization, or Sangha, issued a directive Monday ordering monks to stick to learning and propagating the faith, saying young monks were being "compelled by a group of destructive elements within and without to break the law," the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

A monk who addressed the crowd at the end of the march vowed the protests would continue until the government apologizes for mistreating monks at an earlier demonstration in northern Myanmar. But the protests are also aimed at pressuring the junta to make moves to restoring democracy.

Huge anti-government march

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Led by a huge contingent of Buddhist Monks, the largest crowd since a failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising has marched through the heart of Myanmar's (mee-an-MAHRZ') capital.

The crowd swelled to as many as 100,000 after anti-government demonstrators began their march at the country's most sacred shrine and wound through the streets of Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon. Some 20,000 monks took the lead, with onlookers joining in on what had been billed as a day of general protest in the country once known as Burma.

At one point, the march passed by the old campus of Rangoon University, a hotbed of protest in past times. Students were seen joining in.

The 1988 uprising was brutally crushed by the military.

Bush to Levy Sanctions Against Myanmar

Monday, September 24, 2007
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK — President Bush on Tuesday will announce additional sanctions against the military dictatorship in Myanmar to support the push for democracy in that Asian country, the White House said Monday.

Bush, in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly, will announce financial sanctions against key members of the regime and those who provide them financial aid, said Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser.

The U.S. action came amid a growing series of anti-government protests in Myanmar, also known as Burma. As many as 100,000 protesters led by a phalanx of barefoot monks marched Monday in the most powerful show of strength yet.

"It's very interesting what is happening in the country with the Buddhist monks who have joined this effort," Hadley said. "Our hope is to marry that internal pressure with the external pressure coming from the United States and the United Nations and really all countries that are committed to freedom to try to force the regime into a change."

Hadley would not be specific about the financial sanctions to maintain what he called an element of surprise against those who might try to hide their assets. But he said they would target key members of the regime and those who provide financial support to them.

He also said there would be a visa ban against those associated with the regime, including their families.

"He will call for the United Nations and for other countries there to do all they can to support a process of political change in Burma," Hadley said.

The U.S. restricts imports and exports and financial transactions with Myanmar. Washington also has imposed an arms embargo on Myanmar.

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

Monks Put Myanmar Junta in Tight Spot

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Buddhist monks march for a fourth straight day on Friday Sept. 21, 2007, in Yangon, Myanmar. About 1,500 Buddhist monks marched through Myanmar's main city Friday in their biggest turnout yet for a month-long wave of protests against the military government, which insisted it will not impose a state of emergency. (AP Photo)

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Full coverage »

By MICHAEL CASEY – 2 days ago

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Armed only with upturned begging bowls, chanting Buddhist monks in Myanmar have caught the country's military rulers off guard with their peaceful protests.

They have emboldened the public to take to the streets by the thousands to support the most dramatic anti-government protests the isolated Southeast Asian nation has seen in a decade.

Braving monsoon rains, monks in traditional maroon robes demonstrated for a fourth straight day Friday in the country's largest city, Yangon. Followed by clapping onlookers, about 1,500 monks marched after praying at the Shwedagon Pagoda, the nation's holiest shrine and a gathering place for anti-government demonstrations including the failed 1988 democratic uprising.

The monks, who are widely respected in the mostly Buddhist society, bring moral authority to the movement with their nonviolent practices and sheer numbers: There are 500,000 in monasteries across the country.

Their assumption of a leadership role in protests poses perhaps the gravest threat to the junta since the 1988 uprising when the military fired on peaceful crowds, killing thousands and terrorizing the country.

It has put the regime in a quandary over whether to crack down or take a chance and allow the protests to run their course.

Josef Silverstein, a Myanmar expert and retired Rutgers University professor, said the junta may be hesitating to act until it assesses how many monks support the protests and who is actually leading them. Yet waiting much longer could be risky.

"The monks are showing that without arms and nothing more than prayers and marching that they are capable of having greater freedom than people have had," he said. "This could encourage people to be more resistant. The longer this stalemate goes on, the weaker the military looks to the country and outside."

Images of the monks have increased support for the opposition's cause worldwide. Washington, the United Nations and Hollywood stars have called on the junta to enact democratic reforms and release the leader of the pro-democracy opposition, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, along with other political prisoners.

The current demonstrations are the most militant since December 1996, when students gathered in Yangon to demand improvements in education and the right to organize in a union.

The military, which has controlled Myanmar since 1962, has withstood waves of domestic and international protests since 1988 and shows no signs of yielding now. Even if the people are angry and emboldened, and the junta is treated as a pariah by the West, there are no signs of disunity in the army. And the support of neighboring nations, most notably China, as well as oil and gas revenues, keep the military in a commanding position.

Aung Zaw, a Burmese editor of The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based magazine that covers Myanmar, said the military knows that brutalizing the monks could prompt the wider public — which has largely remained on the sidelines_ to join the protests.

"Authorities are at odds over how to deal with the monks at the point. As you know, monks are respected and influential people," Aung Zaw said. "If you are going to physically attack them, it could really provoke public anger and invite more troubles."

Aung Zaw said in the history of Burma, as Myanmar is also known, the military leadership has always resolved such challenges by force.

"Sooner or later, there will be a crackdown," Aung Zaw said. "They will never compromise or open dialogue."

Myanmar ranks among the 20 poorest countries in the world, according to the United Nations, with most people living on less than $200 a year. The United Nations and others have blamed inept military leaders for bungling Myanmar's economy, spending excessive amounts of money on a new capital and on maintaining one of the world's largest armies.

The latest protests were triggered when authorities raised fuel prices as much as 500 percent in August. Strapped for cash, the regime was forced to slash the subsidies it had used to keep fuel cheap.

The cost of public transport skyrocketed and families suddenly found themselves having to walk to work and sell household goods to survive.

The government, which has a monopoly on fuel sales, raised prices of fuel from about $1.40 to $2.80 a gallon, and boosted the price of natural gas by about 500 percent.

Government opponents began demonstrating over the price hikes Aug. 19, but the protests were quickly contained by the junta with waves of arrests and beatings. With activists in jail or hiding, the leadership role fell to the monks.

The monks launched their protests Tuesday after the junta failed to apologize for allegedly roughing up Buddhist clergy during a demonstration in the northern town of Pakokku on Sept. 5.

Monks are demanding the government reduce fuel prices, release all political prisoners and begin negotiations with Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders.

What makes this week's protests different than the student-led uprising of 1988 are the monks' non-confrontational tactics — their orderly marches and religious chanting has yet to provoke the military.

Monks leading the procession have carried upside-down alms bowl — a symbol of protest. Some monks are refusing alms from the military and their families — a religious boycott deeply embarrassing to the junta. In the Myanmar language, the term for "boycott" comes from the words for holding an alms bowl upside down.

Penny Edwards, a professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of California at Berkeley, said the monks' protests posed a great challenge to the government's moral legitimacy and claims of support for Buddhism.

Since similar protests in 1990, Edwards said the junta has invested massive amounts of money and publicity in their campaign to materially support Buddhism, partly through temple renovations.

"This is the first sustained challenge by the monkhood to this Buddhist-centered campaign of the junta, which has at least superficially been able to claim that it has some legitimacy as a primary material sponsor of Buddhism," said Edwards.

The junta has tried to blame the trouble on Suu Kyi's political party and Western powers.

"You can see the government handles the situation peacefully," the Information Ministry's Ye Htut told The Associated Press on Thursday. "Anti-government groups want to see the state of emergency because their objective is to exploit and provoke sangha (monks), students, workers and innocent people into making another 1988-style riot," Ye Htut said.

Plainclothes police and pro-junta thugs, who in the early days of the demonstrations rounded up and beat activists, have mostly left the monks alone.

But if the protests gain traction, Silverstein and other analysts say it's possible that the military may make concessions, perhaps including drafting a more democratic constitution.

Associated Press writer Michael Casey has covered Southeast Asia for five years. Associated Press writer Lily Hindy contributed to this report from New York.

Witnesses Say 10,000 Buddhist Monks Held Protest Against Military Regime in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar — A decision by Myanmar's military regime to allow Buddhist monks to march passed the home of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi should not be seen as a sign the junta is preparing to release its iron grip on power, analysts warned Sunday.

The military — struggling to deal with the most-sustained wave of anti-government protests in two decades — could still launch a bloody crackdown as it has in the past, an analyst and UN official warned.

On Sunday, the junta beefed up security on both ends of the road leading to Suu Kyi's house, witnesses said, in what appeared to be an effort to prevent a repeat of Saturday's march. About 20 pro-junta thugs and a dozen riot police were posted on the street, the witnesses said.

Monks have been marching for the past five days in Myanmar's biggest city and around the country as a month of protests against economic hardship under the junta have ballooned into the biggest grass-roots challenge to its rule since pro-democracy protests in 1988.

By linking their cause to Suu Kyi's activism, which has seen her detained for about 12 of the last 18 years, the monks increased the pressure on the junta to decide whether to crack down or to compromise with the demonstrators.

"This was a very important gesture," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert at Georgetown University in Washington who is monitoring events from Singapore. "It's significant because the military allowed them to pass (Suu Kyi's house). That and other images indicate the military is not prepared unless things get worse to directly confront the monks in their uniforms."

Steinberg said this was in contrast to 1990 when the military put down a protest by hundreds of monks in Mandalay, arresting and defrocking some and closing monasteries linked with the demonstration.

So far, the government has been handling the monks' disciplined but defiant protests gingerly, aware that forcibly breaking them up in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar would likely cause public outrage.

But Steinberg said the military's lack of force should not be seen as a sign of weakness, given it remains the largest and most powerful institution in the country.

"Any change (in the government) will have to be approved by elements of the military if there is to be change," he said. "They are far too powerful to be resisted if the military acts in unison."

A U.N. official agreed, saying that while dissident groups he had met in Bangkok this week were optimistic about the outcome, they failed to take into account the military's history of brutally suppressing uprisings in 1988, 1990 and 1996.

"They were very optimistic and expectant and seemed to believe that there was one outcome possible which was popular uprising that brings Suu Kyi to the forefront," said the official, who requested anonymity citing protocol. "I'm not as confident that is the only outcome possible. I would think massive repression and violence on a significant scale is not to be discounted."

The monks on Saturday stopped briefly in front of Suu Kyi's house and said prayers before leaving at the other end of the street, said witnesses, who asked not to be named for fear of being harassed by the authorities.

"Today is extraordinary. We walked past lay disciple Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house today. We are pleased and glad to see her looking fit and well," a 45-year old monk told about 200 people at Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city. "Daw" is an honorific used in referring to older women.

Photos posted on the Web site of Mizzima News, run by Myanmar exile journalists in India, shows a crowd gathered outside the gate of Suu Kyi's home, with uniformed security men standing immediately in front of it.

Suu Kyi, 62, is the leader of the National League for Democracy party, which won a 1990 general election but was not allowed to take power by the military. She has been under detention continuously since May 2003.

The latest protest movement began Aug. 19 after the government raised fuel prices, but has its basis in long pent-up dissatisfaction with the repressive military regime. Using arrests and intimidation, the government had managed to keep demonstrations limited in size and impact — but they gained new life when the monks joined.

In the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, a crowd of 10,000 people, including at least 4,000 Buddhist monks, marched Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations since the 1988 democracy uprising, witnesses said.

At the same time, about 1,000 monks— led by one holding his begging bowl upturned as a sign of protest — marched in Yangon starting from the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's most revered shrine and a historic center for protest movements.

A monks' organization, the All Burma Monks Alliance, also urged the public to join in protesting "evil military despotism" in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Little is known of the group or its membership, but its communiques have spread widely by word of mouth and through opposition media in exile.

Key facts about Myanmar

Key facts about Myanmar, which is experiencing the largest protests since a failed democratic uprising in 1988.

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COUNTRY: Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a Southeast Asian nation bordered by Bangladesh and India to the west, China to the north and Thailand and Laos to the east and southeast. Its total land area is 679,000 square kilometers (262,000 square miles), or slightly smaller than Texas. Its population is 54 million.
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POLITICS: Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. Dictator Ne Win was replaced in 1988 by another group of generals who crushed a pro-democracy movement that left thousands dead. The junta held general elections in 1990, but refused to honor the results when Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years. In 1993, the government launched a self-described, seven-step democratic "road map." The first step was completed in September with the completion of guidelines for a new constitution. No date for a referendum on the constitution or elections has been set.
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ECONOMY: Once Southeast Asia's most prosperous country, Myanmar today is one of the world's 20 poorest nations, with a per capita income of about US$200 (euro141). Economic problems are related to the military's misrule and exasperated by sanctions imposed by Western countries to force political change. Poverty is endemic and AIDS and other diseases are spreading rapidly. In recent years, the government has opened up the economy. Neighboring countries including China, India and Thailand have rushed in to tap its vast reserves of oil and natural gas, which has propped up the regime.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi back in focus as anti-government protests in Myanmar grow

YANGON, Myanmar: As Myanmar's most sustained anti-government protests in two decades gain critical mass, the focus is again on a woman who until Saturday had not been seen in public in more than four years — detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi — who has spent nearly 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest — greeted more than 500 monks who briefly chanted prayers after they were unexpectedly allowed to pass a roadblock and gather outside her home.

The charismatic Nobel Peace Prize laureate has long been the linchpin in the struggle to bring democracy to Myanmar and an end to the brutal decades-long rule of the ruling generals.

Charismatic, steely-willed and outspoken, it is Suu Kyi's popularity that has made her freedom an unappealing prospect for Myanmar's rulers. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and is currently the only laureate under house arrest.

She is also the head of Myanmar's most popular political party, the National League for Democracy. The generals, who ignored the results of a landslide 1990 NLD election victory to hold onto power, insist they are guiding the country back to orderly democratic rule.

With Suu Kyi under house arrest, the current protests — which began Aug. 19 after the government raised fuel prices — have so far been led by her party faithful and other activists, but gained a boost when thousands of monks rallied to the cause.

"The fact that monks have gone to see Aung San Suu Kyi is really symbolically very important," Myanmar analyst Larry Jagan told The Associated Press in Bangkok.

"The key is the monks and Aung San Suu Kyi have one thing in common; peaceful protest. They want to see change through peaceful means. What we're seeing is a coming together of the main political force in the country, and the main religious leaders," he said.

Suu Kyi, 62, is the daughter of Gen. Aung San, who led Myanmar's nationalist struggle against British colonial rule after World War II.

Except for her name, she was an unknown figure in Myanmar. But as many as a half-million people turned out for her political debut on Aug. 26, 1988, a public speech at the foot of Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda — the country's most revered shrine that has again become a focus of the current protests.

The speech was the high-water mark of a pro-democracy uprising that sort to end military rule that began in 1962. It was ruthlessly crushed by the army, who shot down thousands of people nationwide and later imprisoned Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy leaders.

There are few signs that the ruling junta is willing to pick up the pace of its avowed road map for democracy, which calls for a constitution and free elections at some unspecified point in the future.

Neither is Suu Kyi, incarcerated or not, likely to back away from her insistence that her party play a leading role in determining the country's future.

Despite her forced isolation, Suu Kyi commands world attention and respect, her freedom a major demand of many Western leaders and the United Nations, as well as admirers around the globe.

Suu Kyi has been under detention continuously since May 2003 at her home in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon.

Allowed no visitors or even access to a telephone, uncovering information about Suu Kyi's life in detention has been difficult.

Her most recent period of detention began after she began making political trips to the countryside, where — despite open intimidation by the government — huge crowds turned out to see her.

It was during one of those trips in northern Myanmar that her motorcade was ambushed by a government-backed mob.

The government — apparently stunned at her popularity — used the violence as a pretext to lock her up, saying that she presented a threat to public order.

She had been freed only a year earlier — in May 2002 — from 19 months of house arrest. In 1989, detained on trumped-up national security charges, she was held until 1995.

Born in Rangoon, now Yangon, in 1945, she was only two years old when her father was assassinated by political rivals in 1947, a year before independence for the country then called Burma.

Raised by her mother, who served abroad in Myanmar's diplomatic corps in the 1960s, Suu Kyi earned a degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford in 1967, then worked for the United Nations in New York and Bhutan.

Myanmar junta reported to extend watch on monks to stave off protests

YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's junta was reported Tuesday to have extended its watch over Buddhist monasteries in the bustling township of Bago, in an attempt to keep monks from taking part in the most sustained anti-government protests in a decade.

Myanmar's government is facing worldwide condemnation for its hard-line handling of demonstrations that began Aug. 19 to protest fuel price hikes and a rise in the cost of consumer goods. Scores of people have been detained for taking part in demonstrations, which have been broken up by pro-government toughs.

In northern Myanmar last week, monks — angry at being beaten up for protesting — temporarily took officials hostage and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.

According to Mizzima News, a Web site run by exiled Myanmar journalists, monasteries in the city of Bago, also known as Pegu, have been put under close watch by security forces, who also have put members of the opposition National League for Democracy party under surveillance.

It said monks had been prevented from leaving their monasteries in Bago, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Yangon, and one of the country's biggest cities.

Dozens of protesters marched peacefully through Bago last month calling for a cut in prices.

The report could not be independently confirmed, but authorities had already taken similar surveillance measures in Yangon and Mandalay, according to witnesses.

Monks have said they may refuse alms from the military and ignore junta officials and their supporters at official functions if the government does not apologize by next week for their rough treatment in the northern town of Pakokku, according to The Irrawaddy, an independent Thailand-based news magazine that reports on Myanmar, and the pro-democracy group U.S. Campaign For Burma.

The monks — reportedly under the banner of a new organization called the National Front of Monks — are also demanding that authorities cut fuel prices, release all political prisoners and begin negotiations with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders, the U.S. Campaign For Burma said.

It was impossible to independently verify the front's existence or demands.

Historically, monks in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have been at the forefront of protests — first against British colonialism and later military dictatorship. They also played a prominent part in the failed 1988 pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962. The uprising was brutally crushed by the military.

Myanmar's junta, meanwhile, pleaded with its citizens to stop protesting and to instead express their views through a promised referendum on a new constitution.

"Myanmar's democratic transition is in its infancy, so the nation should take great care to avert possible undesirable consequences," said a commentary in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, which closely reflects official viewpoints.

People should make their stances known when they have a chance to approve a new, yet-to-be-drafted constitution in a national referendum to be held "soon," the paper said.

The government has promised to eventually hold elections.

Earlier this month, the government wrapped up a 14-year national convention to draw up guidelines for a new constitution, the first stage of its seven-step "road map to democracy."

Critics have called the entire process a sham, saying the guidelines ensure the military a prominent role in politics and bar Nobel laureate Suu Kyi from holding elected office.

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

Myanmar junta deploys police at monasteries to contain monk protests

YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's military government stepped up monitoring of monasteries nationwide, witnesses said Monday, as part of a campaign to snuff out the worst protests to rock the impoverished nation in nearly a decade.

At the same time, the government tried to play down the significance of the monks' actions. It issued statements over the weekend suggesting the monks were organized by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, with the support of Western embassies, aimed at undermining the government.

Since Aug. 19, pro-democracy groups have been staging street protests over the government's decision to increase fuel prices by as much as 500 percent. Pro-junta supporters have beaten protesters and authorities have arrested dozens.

The protests took a more confrontational tone last week in northern Myanmar, when Buddhist monks — angry at being beaten up for protesting the economic conditions — temporarily took officials hostage and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.

That violence has prompted authorities to post police 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 further protests from the revered monks, witnesses said.

Plain clothes police and pro-junta supporters could be seen posted outside monasteries in Yangon and the surrounding neighborhoods, witnesses said.

The top state body overseeing Buddhist affairs also has issued orders to monasteries in Yangon asking them to control the activities of the monks, an abbot of one monastery said.

Authorities accused Suu Kyi's NLD of organizing the monks to demonstrate and maliciously blaming government supporters for attacking the monks, which prompted "agitated mobs to destroy the homes and shops of those whom they had falsely accused."

"By observing the incidents which occurred in Pakokku city, the real intention of the NLD vividly shows that they have been trying to seize the state power by a short cut through inciting unrest like in 1988," the government said in a rare statement to the media.

Historically, monks in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have been at the forefront of protests, first against British colonialism and later military dictatorship, and played a prominent part in the failed 1988 pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962. It was brutally crushed by the military.

The junta held general elections in 1990, but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi's NLD won. Suu Kyi has been detained under house for more than 11 years.

The government's four-page statement, sent to The Associated Press Sunday, also alleged that top activists planned terrorist acts and received tens of thousands of dollars from Western nations. The junta's information committee 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 government, which has been roundly criticized by the world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush for its heavy-handed tactics, also implied that the United States was involved in the opposition groups' plans.

It said an unspecified private American group had delivered US$30,000 (€22,000) last year to Htay Kywe through a Western embassy in Yangon.

Separately, it said the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy was attempting to cause unrest by donating US$2.9 million (€2.1 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.

The junta also charged that "a world-famous organization of a powerful state provided US$100,000 under the heading of helping refugees," and alleged that the money was really used for training in bomb-making and demolition. Many religious and humanitarian agencies provide aid to hundreds of thousands of Myanmar refugees in neighboring Thailand.

Htay Kywe is a leader of the 88 Generation Students, a group that has been spearheading nonviolent activities against the junta in the past year.

___

On the Net:

National Endowment for Democracy: http://www.ned.org/

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

Myanmar junta links US to pro-democracy activists, said to have terror links

YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's military government stepped up its propaganda against the country's pro-democracy movement Sunday, alleging that top activists planned terrorist acts and received money from Western nations.

The junta also charged 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 allegations come as the junta grapples with scattered but spirited protests against its economic policies.

Scores of people have been detained for taking part in demonstrations, which have been broken up by pro-government toughs directed by security forces.

The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is facing worldwide condemnation for its hardline handling of demonstrations that began Aug. 19 to protest a fuel price hike and a rise in the cost of consumer goods.

The protests took a more confrontational tone last week in northern Myanmar, when Buddhist monks — angry at being beaten up for protesting economic conditions — temporarily took officials hostage and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.

The junta's Information Committee charged that "internal and external pessimist and opposition groups are striving to create riots and disturbances" similar to mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988. It also blamed the groups for past bombings.

The groups' aim was "to gain power by a short cut," said its statement, published Sunday in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

The 1988 uprising was brutally crushed by the military, which has refused to yield power even after Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy political party won a 1990 general election.

The government's statement also implied that the United States was involved in the opposition groups' plans. It cited funds that U.S. organizations were said to have given to dissident groups.

It said "a world-famous organization of a powerful state provided US$100,000 under the heading of helping refugees," and it alleged that the money was really used for training in bomb-making and demolition.

The statement said Htay Kywe, an activist in hiding, was being helped by an unspecified foreign embassy. He is a leader of the 88 Generation Students, a group that has been spearheading nonviolent activities against the junta for the past year.

"Htay Kywe is still at large, as he had been hidden at a secure place by an embassy of a powerful country," the statement said, without elaborating.

U.S. diplomats in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

About a dozen members of Htay Kywe's group were rounded up shortly after organizing the first of the latest round of protests.

The group members were held on charges of trying to disrupt Myanmar's National Convention, which is setting guidelines for a new constitution. If convicted, they could each face up to 20 years in prison.

The convention completed its work on Sept. 3 with guidelines that would keep the military heavily involved in administering the country, and would bar Suu Kyi, who has long been under house arrest, from holding political office.

Htay Kywe has issued several statements from hiding, including a Sept. 6 letter urging the U.N. Security Council to take up the Myanmar issue — a course of action Washington has endorsed.

The government said in its news release that it "will continue to take preventive measures against those malicious collaborated efforts to commit terrorist destructive acts."

Myanmar Blames Suu Kyi for Unrest

Members of Myanmar pro-democracy group hold placards and a photograph of their leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as they shout slogans during a demonstration in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, against the military regime of the country.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's military junta accused detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party of inciting unrest and instigating Buddhist monks to take part in protests over price hikes, state media reported Saturday.

The regime also claimed that pro-democracy groups outside Myanmar and foreign media were deliberately spreading false information to destabilize the government, comparing the current situation to mass protests in 1988 when thousands of demonstrators were believed killed by security forces.

"Internal and external destructive elements are inciting a period of civil unrest like the one in 1988," the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. "It has been found that foreign broadcasting stations are launching political propaganda and exaggerated news reports on the demonstrations with the intent of misleading the public."

The report comes as Buddhist monks in northern Myanmar, angry at being beaten up for protesting fuel price rises, smashed up a shop belonging to supporters of the military government, witnesses said.

The destruction Thursday night in the town of Pakokku came just hours after monks held a group of officials captive at a monastery for several hours before releasing them, also to protest their rough treatment during a march a day earlier.

Wednesday's demonstration was the latest in a string of protests triggered by a 500 percent rise in government-set fuel prices, but one of the first in which the country's monks took part. Civilian supporters of the government kicked and beat the monks and soldiers fired shots into the air, witnesses said.

Myanmar's rulers tolerate little dissent and often crack down on activists.

In a case unrelated to the price protests, six labor activists received prison sentences of up to 28 years for organizing a seminar at a U.S. Embassy center earlier this year, a defense lawyer said Saturday.

All six were found guilty Friday of inciting "hatred or contempt" for the government, lawyer Aung Thein said. Some also were convicted of having links to illegal associations and immigration violations.

The six — all in their 20s — had planned to discuss labor rights at the U.S. Embassy's American Center in Yangon, the country's biggest city, but the plans were canceled after a few participants were arrested.

Thurein Aung, Wai Lin, Myo Min and Kyaw Win were sentenced to 28 years in prison by a Western District court. Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Kyaw were given 20-year sentences.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy could not be reached for immediate comment.

Historically, monks in Myanmar have been at the forefront of protests, first against British colonialism and later military dictatorship, and played a prominent part in the failed 1988 pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962.

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

The monks' actions highlighted strong popular discontent with the military regime, even after the recent protests had appeared to be winding down. The junta's suppression of the recent demonstrations has drawn worldwide criticism, with President Bush raising the issue publicly Friday for the second time this week.

Bush invites Southeast Asian leaders to Texas but Myanmar junta chief unlikely to be there

SYDNEY, Australia: U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday invited Southeast Asian leaders to his Texas ranch this year but it was unclear if Myanmar's junta chief, whom Bush has blasted as a tyrant, would be there.

Bush issued the invitation to heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over lunch in Sydney with seven of them, said Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, one of the leaders present.

The invitation to a Texas summit was intended in part to make up for Bush's earlier cancellation of celebrations in Singapore to mark the 30th anniversary of Washington's ties with the ASEAN bloc.

"He invited us to Texas," Arroyo told reporters. "We'll have it done there at the convenience of ASEAN."

Bush and the leaders and senior ministers from seven of ASEAN's 10 member countries were in Australia's business capital for a summit of another grouping, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The seven in APEC are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The three ASEAN members not in APEC are Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

No date has been set for the summit, said Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo.

Asked if Bush's invitation extended to all ASEAN members, including Myanmar, Romulo said he believed it was so since the American president invited the whole bloc.

But Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the leader of the junta that rules Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, would not likely be welcome.

Washington is among Myanmar's harshest critics, with Bush renewing his criticisms on Wednesday for the junta's recent suppression of pro-democracy advocates.

"It's inexcusable that we have this kind of tyrannical behavior in Asia," Bush said at a joint news conference in Sydney with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who is hosting this year's APEC summit.

Myanmar's junta has beaten and detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs in Yangon, the capital, to curtail a rare wave of protests last month that began after fuel prices were raised overnight by as much as 500 percent.

Even fellow ASEAN members have grown more critical of Myanmar's dismal human rights records despite the group's bedrock policy of noninterference in each other's domestic affairs.

During a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday, Romulo said he expressed ASEAN's concern over Myanmar's failure to abide by a roadmap to democracy it agreed to follow a decade ago.

"It's now 10 or 11 years, and we are still waiting," Romulo said he told Rice. "There is now impatience in the ASEAN about the fact it's not working out the way we thought it would work out."

Myanmar Monks Briefly Hold Hostages

YANGON, Myanmar -

Angry Buddhist monks in northern Myanmar took about 20 officials hostage for several hours Thursday until a senior abbot intervened, but tensions remained high over the beating of monks during an anti-government protest the previous day, witnesses said.

In an escalation of recent protests against the military junta's economic policies, hundreds of monks - highly revered in Buddhist Myanmar - marched Wednesday in the town of Pakokku, political activists and town residents said.

Soldiers fired warning shots into the air and kicked and beat some of the monks to break up the march, they said.

In its first public comments on the recent protests, Myanmar's military junta acknowledged that soldiers fired warning shots, but blamed the monks.

The announcement at the end of Thursday evening's television and radio news broadcast also warned that the monks' actions could not be tolerated.

Myanmar state radio said people were unhappy with the monks' actions and warned against any attempt to disrupt tranquility.

On Thursday, local government and religion department officials went to the monastery to apologize for the confrontation and ask that no further protests be held, a senior monk said. Young monks seized the officials and held them captive because of anger over their rough treatment Wednesday, he said. Four of the officials' cars were burned, witnesses said.

"Bystanders cheered as the monks torched the cars one by one," an activist who witnessed the events said when contacted by phone. The senior monk and activists spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of official retaliation.

The senior monk said the monastery's revered head abbot pleaded with the monks to disperse before authorities took serious measures against them. The officials were freed only after an anti-government crowd of as many as 1,000 people outside the monastery was convinced to disperse, he said.

Wednesday's march was apparently the first time the military has used guns to suppress protests triggered by last month's fuel price increases of as much as 500 percent.

The government has detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs to block the demonstrations, and the monks' dramatic protest indicates the depth of discontent with the military regime.

Pakokku, about 390 miles northwest of Yangon, is a center for Buddhist learning with more than 80 monasteries, including at least 15 used for teaching.

Historically, Buddhist monks were at the forefront of protests of British colonialism and military dictatorship. The military fears the participation of monks in protests, because using force to disperse them draws great popular ire.

Monks played a prominent part in a 1988 pro-democracy uprising against military rule that has been in place since 1962. The uprising was violently crushed by the junta.

Residents of Pakokku said 200 Buddhist monks took part in Wednesday's march, although reports by overseas Myanmar exile groups put the numbers as high as 600.

Monks chanted prayers along the way until they were stopped by authorities, including pro-government senior monks, and warning shots were fired, they said. At least three monks were arrested and several injured. The activist said the three monks were released Thursday, they said.

No public protests have been reported in Myanmar's main city, Yangon, for more than a week, although they have been continuing sporadically in other towns, reportedly involving as many as 1,000 people.

President Bush said he would raise the issue of human rights violations in Myanmar, also known as Burma, at a weekend summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney, Australia.

"It's inexcusable that we have this kind of tyrannical behavior in Asia," Bush said Wednesday at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

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

Activists demand treatment for detained protesters in Myanmar; 41 on hunger strike

YANGON, Myanmar: Pro-democracy activists demanded medical treatment Tuesday for scores of injured protesters imprisoned in Myanmar following demonstrations over high fuel prices, as 41 detainees continued a hunger strike.

A Washington-based activist group, the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said 41 detainees — including seven women — have staged a hunger strike since Aug. 30 to demand medical care for a colleague, who reportedly suffered a broken leg during his arrest.

The group also called on Myanmar's military government to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to the prisoners, most of whom have been detained since protests broke out Aug. 19 in the impoverished country.

"Many detainees were beaten brutally ... during the arrests and therefore they all have sustained injuries, but they are not receiving any medical treatment by the authorities," the U.S. Campaign for Burma said in a statement.

ICRC official Thierry Ribaux said the Red Cross remains barred from prisons in Myanmar, also known as Burma. The ban was imposed in December 2005 and discussions with the junta have failed to end it.

A family member of one detained activist on a hunger strike, requesting anonymity for fear of official retaliation, said the detainees were moved to two separate locations outside Yangon on Sunday night.

Myanmar's junta has beaten and detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs in Yangon to curtail a rare wave of protests that began after fuel prices were raised overnight by as much as 500 percent.

Last week, protests reached Mandalay, one of the country's biggest cities and a popular tourist destination.

About 15 people held a small protest in Kyaukse, the hometown of junta leader Gen. Than Shwe, on Monday. Kyaukse is located about 530 kilometers (330 miles) north of Yangon. Demonstrators eluded several junta thugs in trucks who attempted to stop the march.

The U.N.'s independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said Friday in Geneva he received reports that some people had been "severely beaten and tortured" while in detention.

The regime's recent heavy-handed tactics have drawn condemnation from world leaders.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta — which has come under widespread international criticism for violating human rights — tolerates little public dissent.

In 1988, public protests over rising rice prices were a prelude to a burst of major demonstrations that were violently subdued by the army, which killed hundreds, perhaps thousands.

Myanmar protest hits junta leader's hometown as calls for UN action intensify

The Associated Press
Published: September 3, 2007


YANGON, Myanmar: Defiant activists held a protest over high fuel prices in the hometown of Myanmar's military leader Monday, as the British prime minister joined calls for the United Nations to take action against the regime's brutal crackdown on a rare wave of dissent.

Protesters had planned to stage a 260 kilometer (160 mile) protest march from Laputta township in Myanmar's southwestern Ayeyarwaddy delta to the country's biggest city, Yangon, on Monday, but authorities broke up the march and detained several protest leaders as they were about to set off, witnesses said.

More than 15 people, however, held a small protest in Kyaukse, the hometown of junta leader Gen. Than Shwe. Kyaukse is located about 530 kilometers (330 miles) north of Yangon. Protesters eluded several junta thugs in trucks who attempted to stop the march.

"Kyaw Thu Moe Myint, one of the organizers of the march in Kyaukse, was arrested Sunday night, but we managed to implement the plan by staging the protest march," one of the participants told reporters, acknowledging he was released later Monday.

Myanmar's junta has beaten and detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs in Yangon to curtail protests that began Aug. 19 after fuel prices were raised overnight by as much as 500 percent. The price hike has made public transport and some consumer goods vastly more expensive in the impoverished country.

Last week, protests reached Mandalay, among the country's biggest cities and a popular tourist destination. About 30 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy staged the protest to "reflect the hardship that the people of Myanmar are going through," Win Mya Mya, an NLD member, told reporters.

The U.N.'s independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said Friday in Geneva he had received reports that some people had been "severely beaten and tortured" in detention.

The regime's heavy-handed tactics have drawn condemnation from world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush, who has urged Myanmar's government to heed international calls to release the detained activists and to stop intimidating citizens who are promoting democracy and human rights.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed those sentiments Monday, demanding the regime release all political prisoners and urging the U.N. Security Council to take up the "grave situation" in Myanmar, also known as Burma, as soon as possible.

"As the lives of ordinary Burmese people continue to deteriorate, it is all the more important that all countries and organizations with an influence over the regime impress upon the generals the need for an early transition to democratic rule, full respect for human rights and genuine national reconciliation," Brown said in a statement.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The ruling junta — which has come under widespread international criticism for violating the human rights of its citizens — tolerates little public dissent.

In 1988, public protests over rising rice prices were a prelude to a burst of major demonstrations — violently subdued by the army — that sought an end to military rule that began in 1962. The current junta suspended a 1974 constitution when it took power.

US Options Limited on Myanmar Crackdown

	Photo 1 of 2
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, informs on the latest developments in the country, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. The United Nations urges the Myanmar authorities to immediately release peaceful protesters. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore di Nolfi)

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By FOSTER KLUG

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration and lawmakers from both parties are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to condemn Myanmar's recent crackdown on activists.

But with China and Russia likely to block a U.N. resolution against a country with which they both have strong economic ties, and India clamoring for access to Myanmar's vast energy resources, U.S. options to force change appear limited.

Priscilla Clapp, who was chief U.S. diplomat in Myanmar — also called Burma — from 1999 to 2002, said U.S. and European pressure is important. But, she said, "when you hear the president and others talking about that, it's because they've got nothing else they can do; it's just such a conundrum what you do about Burma."

The ruling military junta in Myanmar has detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs to snuff out protests that began Aug. 19 over higher fuel and consumer goods prices.

In response, President Bush urged the government to "heed the international calls to release these activists immediately and stop its intimidation of those Burmese citizens who are promoting democracy and human rights."

The State Department has said U.S. officials will work to raise the subject at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September.

Michael Green, Bush's former senior adviser on Asia, said U.S. rhetoric condemning the regime shows Myanmar's "democracy movement that major powers like the United States stand with them. That has meaning. But in terms of affecting the behavior of the regime, I don't think that will happen until the big parties around them start working together."

China and Russia, both of which have veto power on the U.N. Security Council, are the major barriers to a resolution on Myanmar. They argue that the council should deal with matters of international security, not the internal security of a country.

Even a successful U.N. resolution, however, "doesn't solve the problem in Burma; it just gives it a high level of international attention," Clapp said.

The most important pressure on Myanmar probably would come from China, which probably would welcome stronger economic policies in Myanmar as better protection for its investments. Clapp said China covets Myanmar's huge energy resources and in coming years will start making large hydroelectric and gas investments.

The White House and State Department are watching events in Myanmar closely; the country also is of special interest to Bush's wife.

First lady Laura Bush telephoned U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday to urge him to condemn the junta's treatment of dissidents and to press for the Security Council to prevent more violence in Myanmar.

A statement released by her office said, "Mrs. Bush noted that by staying quiet, the United Nations — and all nations — condone these abuses."

Green noted what he called a growing recognition that Myanmar is becoming a regional problem, with disease, drugs and refugees moving across its borders.

But India, a powerful democracy that is nurturing closer ties with the United States, is turning a blind eye to Myanmar's turmoil, Green said, in an effort to compete with China for strategic and economic influence in Myanmar.

US officials, politicians urge UN action as Myanmar continues protest clampdown

American politicians issued urgent calls for Myanmar’s military government to stop its repression as the junta Thursday hunted down pro-democracy activists it blames for spearheading protests against rising fuel prices.

Two senior Senators and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee called for the State Department to persuade the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on human rights violations in Myanmar.

Senators Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein wrote that the situation in Myanmar “merits a strong and meaningful response by our government,” and asked Rice to urge U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report to the council about it.

The State Department said it would work at the U.N. and other forums to pressure the junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and move to restore democracy.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Washington would “try and encourage others to speak out on this and those who may have influence with the Burmese regime to get them to do the right thing here and to do what has been so long overdue.” Burma is another name for Myanmar.

In Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, security was especially tight near City Hall and the busy market near Hledan Junction, where protests against fuel price hikes and rising consumer prices have been attempted over the last week and a half.

Truckloads of young, tough-looking government-hired enforcers directed by plainclothes security officials were parked at such key points, the occupants ready to pounce on anyone suspected of trying to spark unrest.

It has been a government tactic in the past to use members of the Swan-ah-shin and Union Solidarity and Development Association ostensibly a social welfare organization, but closely linked to the junta to assault and intimidate the junta’s opponents.

The USDA was linked to attacks against Suu Kyi and her party supporters in Yangon in 1997, and in northern Myanmar on May 30, 2003. The latter clash led to her detention, which the military said was for her own protection.

Several diplomats in Yangon have expressed concerns over the heavy-handed ways the government uses to snuff out the protests.

“I believe the junta does not use uniformed personnel because they don’t want to be blamed for their action. Now that they are using civilians, they can claim, as they have done in newspapers, that it was the agitated public that stop the protesters,” said a diplomat who did not want to be named because of diplomatic protocol.

The government has also ordered local officials and hotels to be on the lookout for key pro-democracy activists, sending out their names, photos and biographical information, said a local official who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

“We have been instructed to inform higher authorities immediately if we sight any of these people in our area,” he said, adding that the list of dissidents includes at least one member of the 88 Generation Students group, the most active in carrying out non-violent anti-government protests. Most of its top members were arrested on Aug. 21, two days after staging the first of the current round of protests.

Those participating in almost daily protest attempts have dwindled from a few hundred people to a few dozen, as the junta employs the menacing gangs of civilians to manhandle protesters. Scores of people have been detained, though several key protest leaders remain at large.

In Washington, Congressman Tom Lantos on Wednesday decried the junta’s “widespread crackdown” on pro-democracy and human rights activists.

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he urged Rice to call for a U.N. Security Council briefing on Myanmar’s situation.

In 1988, public protests over rising rice prices were a prelude to a burst of major demonstrations. The current protests are nowhere near their scale.

Those protests, which sought an end to military rule that began in 1962, were violently subdued by the army. The junta held general elections in 1990, but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi’s party won.

Burmese hotels asked to help in search for activists

Burma’s military government has ordered local officials and hotels to be on the look-out for key pro-democracy activists as it tries to squash unusually persistent protests sparked by fuel price hikes, an official said on Thursday.

Demonstrations triggered by soaring prices began on August 19 and have continued almost daily—although they have dwindled from a few hundred people to a few dozen—as the junta employed menacing gangs of civilians to rough up protesters.

Dozens of people have been detained, including several prominent pro-democracy activists many of whom are party colleagues of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. However, several key protest leaders remain at large.

Authorities have sent out their names, photos and biographical information to local officials and hotel operators across Burma’s biggest city of Rangoon in the hope of rounding up the remaining protest leaders, said a local official who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

“We have been instructed to inform higher authorities immediately if we sight any of these people in our area,” he said, adding that hotels, motels and guesthouses have been given the same information and instructed to inform authorities of any suspicious activities.

He said the list of dissidents includes Mi Mi, a member of the 88 Generation group, the former students at the forefront of a 1988 democracy uprising who were subjected to lengthy prison terms and torture after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

No demonstrations were known to have taken place on Wednesday in Rangoon, although there were reports of protests in two or three other towns. Information about them could not be independently confirmed.

Tension was especially high at Rangoon’s Hledan Junction, where security officials and their civilian auxiliaries clamped down on Tuesday on a protest within minutes of its start.

They pushed through crowds of onlookers to rough up about 15 demonstrators before tossing them into waiting trucks to take them away for detention, witnesses said.

On Wednesday, three trucks, each carrying about 20 tough-looking young men, were parked on either side of the road, watching for any protesters. About 20 plainclothes security officials roamed nearby sidewalks at the intersection, a traditional site for protests.

The EU on Tuesday said it was concerned about recent arrests of leading activists and the “decision to detain individuals who were exercising their right to peaceful demonstration.”

While the protesters have shown no sign of giving up, analysts said they didn’t expect the momentum to last because the general public remained afraid to join in.