UK's Brown vows "no impunity" for abuse in Myanmar

(Adds PM spokesman, Miliband quotes)

BOURNEMOUTH, England, Sept 26 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a U.N. Security Council meeting on Myanmar on Wednesday, vowing there would be "no impunity" for human rights violators in the country.

"I hope the Security Council will meet immediately, meet today, and discuss this issue and look at what can be done. The first thing that should be done is the U.N. envoy should be sent to Burma (Myanmar)," Brown told reporters at a conference of Britain's ruling Labour Party.

"There will be no impunity in future for those who trample the human rights of the people of Burma."

Brown spoke as a hospital source said one person was killed and five wounded in Myanmar's main city on Wednesday when security forces moved in to disperse the biggest anti-junta demonstrations in 20 years.

"I think everybody knows now that the whole issue of sanctions is going to take on a new dimension," he said.

The European Union was going to look at "a whole range of sanctions that could be imposed", he said.

"The whole world is now watching Burma and its illegitimate and repressive regime should know that the whole world is going to hold it to account. The age of impunity in neglecting and overriding human rights is over," he said.

"I think the international pressure that can be made to be felt in the next few days is incredibly important. I want to see the whole of the world getting together on this, each continent of the world can come together."

A spokesman for the prime minister later said Brown would be phoning world leaders about the situation.

"We certainly expect him to speak to (U.N. Secretary-General) Ban Ki-moon today," the spokesman said, adding Brown hoped also to talk to U.S. President George W. Bush.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who is due to fly to New York for U.N. meetings later on Wednesday, urged Myanmar authorities to exercise restraint in responding to the protests and said they would be held accountable for their conduct.

A British government official said Miliband would discuss the situation with China's Foreign Minister later on Wednesday.

"It is very important that we maintain this unanimous international call for restraint," he told reporters in Bournemouth, southern England.

He said no contact had been made with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who appeared in front of her house on Saturday to greet marching monks. A well-placed source told Reuters she had been moved to the Insein prison on Sunday, although the information could not be confirmed.

"She will know that the world is on her side and a democratic Burma must be the end result. But in the short term the message is restraint and protection of the brave people who are marching," Miliband said. (additional reporting by Sophie Walker)

Myanmar protests push Iran down U.N. agenda

By Paul Taylor

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President George W. Bush announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar on Tuesday and Western leaders warned the southeast Asian nation's army rulers against crushing pro-democracy protests by force.

Urging all countries to "help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom," Bush told the annual U.N. General Assembly he was imposing financial sanctions and a visa ban on more members of the junta, their supporters and relatives.

His call came before the authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and poured security forces into Yangon to try to end the biggest demonstrations against military rule for two decades. Earlier, 10,000 Buddhist monks again defied the generals by marching through the city chanting "democracy, democracy."

"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma, where a military junta has imposed a 19-year reign of fear," Bush told the world body in his annual speech.

Myanmar was formerly called Burma and its capital Rangoon.

"The United States will tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers," Bush said.

The 27-nation European Union said it would strengthen existing sanctions that include an arms embargo, a travel ban and an assets freeze on junta members "should they resort to using violence against the unarmed and peaceful demonstrators."

The Myanmar protests temporarily pushed concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions and the fight against climate change down the agenda on the first day of the U.N. debate, as well as conflicts in Darfur, Iraq and the Middle East.

Separately, the U.N. Security Council gave the green light for a European Union-led peacekeeping force to protect refugees and displaced persons in Chad and the Central African Republic from spillover violence from the Sudanese province of Darfur.

IRAN ISSUE "CLOSED"

Bush focused in his speech on human rights and promoting democracy, including in Iran, without mentioning the Iranian nuclear program. But a White House spokeswoman said Washington would continue to press for tougher U.N. sanctions on Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the assembly that the issue of his country's nuclear program was "closed" since Tehran was cooperating fully with the U.N. atomic watchdog and its uranium enrichment activities were legal.

Despite military threats and "illegal" sanctions, "Iran has moved forward step by step and now our country is recognized as one with the capacity for industrial-scale fuel cycle production for peaceful purposes," he declared.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reminded the assembly of the high stakes in the standoff, saying that to allow the Islamic Republic to acquire nuclear weapons could destabilize the world.

"There will be no peace in the world if the international community falters in the face of nuclear arms proliferation ... Weakness and renunciation do not lead to peace. They lead to war," Sarkozy said in his maiden U.N. address.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at an awards ceremony in New York that it was not up to the world to prove Tehran sought nuclear weapons, "rather it is up to Iran to prove that it does not want to build an atomic bomb."

In the absence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who stayed away after sparking an outcry last year by comparing Bush to the devil, it fell to veteran leftist Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to deliver an anti-capitalist tirade against U.S. world hegemony.

U.S. leaders continued to dictate what was right or wrong "as if they were God," he declared, while poor countries were still afflicted by "oppression and violence and terror."

The United States accuses Iran of supporting terrorism and arming insurgents in Iraq. Washington is pushing for a third U.N. sanctions resolution over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, but faces opposition from China and Russia.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Tabassum Zakaria, Jeff Mason, Claudia Parsons and Patrick Worsnip)

Monks arrested, tear gassed at Myanmar pagoda: witness

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar security forces sealed off Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda on Wednesday, fired tear gas and arrested up to 200 monks trying to get into the shrine, cracking down on the biggest anti-junta protests in nearly 20 years.

But despite a heavy deployment of troop and riot police at key points across the city, 500 monks marched towards the downtown Sule Pagoda area, the end-point of a week of peaceful protests, witnesses said.

Others joined them along the way, swelling their ranks.

Witnesses and monk sources said some of the deeply revered Buddhist clergy were beaten and manhandled by riot police taking them away from the Shwedagon Pagoda, starting point of the past week's monk-led protests against 45 years of military rule.

Witnesses said they heard no gunshots, but they said security forces burnt plastic pipes to make acrid smoke which filled the air around the pagoda.

The atmosphere at the gilded Shwedagon shrine was "very tense", one witness said, with onlookers angry at the use of violence against the maroon-clad monks.

But the numbers of monks there were far fewer than on Monday or Tuesday after troops and riot police took up positions outside at least six big activist monasteries.

There was also a heavy security presence at the Sule Pagoda, a clear sign the generals were trying to prevent more mass marches.

Hundreds of soldiers waited in a park behind Sule Pagoda, the scene of some of the worst bloodshed when troops opened fire on protesters in 1988, the former Burma's last major uprising.

Then, as many as 3,000 people are thought to have been killed. Now, there are fears around the world of a repetition and Western governments have appealed to the generals to show restraint in the face of protests which had been peaceful.

"This is a test of wills between the only two institutions in the country that have enough power to mobilize nationally," said Bradley Babson, a retired World Bank official who worked in the former Burma.

"Between those two institutions, one of them will crack," he said. "If they take overt violence against the monks, they risk igniting the population against them."

Myanmar monks chant "democracy," soldiers move in

Over ten thousand monks, joined by thousands of bystanders, march to the city center of Yangon in a anti-government protest September 25, 2007. (REUTERS/Stringer)

By Aung Hla Tun | September 25, 2007

YANGON (Reuters) - Chanting "democracy, democracy," 10,000 monks marched through the heart of Myanmar's main city on Tuesday in defiance of a threat by the ruling generals to send in troops to end the biggest anti-junta protests in nearly 20 years.

The streets were lined with people clapping and cheering and there were no overt signs of police or soldiers and no trouble as the campaign against 45 years of military rule swelled in size and scope.

But after the demonstrators left the area around the Sule Pagoda in central Yangon, the focus of a week of marches by the revered maroon-robed monks, riot police and troops moved in.

Eight trucks arrived with police carrying shields, batons and rifles, a Reuters witness said. Eleven army trucks packed with soldiers also drove in, suggesting the junta was filling up the city centre to counter any attempt at a repeat.

In another possible sign of looming confrontation, a well-placed source said detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was moved to the notorious Insein prison on Sunday, a day after she appeared in front of her house to greet monks.

If true, removing Suu Kyi from her lakeside villa would deprive the protesters of a focus after they were stunned by police allowing them through the barricades sealing off her street on Saturday.

They have not been allowed through since despite several attempts and scores of riot police took up positions behind razor-wire barricades at the entrance to the street.

REMINDER OF '88

The area around the Sule pagoda was the scene of the worst bloodshed during a crackdown on nationwide pro-democracy protests in 1988 in which 3,000 people are thought to have been killed.

In an ominous reminder of that, vehicles bearing loudspeakers toured the city in the morning blaring out threats of action under a law allowing troops to break up illegal protests.

"People are not to follow, encourage or take part in these marches. Action will be taken against those who violate this order," the broadcasts said.

People arrived in huge numbers anyway a day after up to 100,000 people protested in Yangon and in Taunggok, a coastal city 250 miles (400) to the northwest, about 40,000 monks and civilians took to the streets, witnesses said.

"The people are not afraid," one man said as the Yangon column of monks stretched several blocks on their march from the Shwedagon Pagoda, the Southeast Asian nation's holiest shrine and symbolic heart of the campaign.

In a gesture of defiance, some waved the bright red "fighting peacock" flag, emblem of the student unions that spearheaded a the 1988 uprising, one the darkest episodes in the former Burma's modern history.

INTERNATIONAL PLEAS

The international community has pleaded with the generals to avoid another bloodbath, but the chilling message behind the legal language of Tuesday's warnings was lost on nobody in the city of 5 million people.

Far away in their new jungle capital, the generals hunkered down for an emergency "War Office" meeting, a diplomat said, and ethnic Karen rebels on the Thai border told Reuters troops of the 22nd Division had been redeployed to Yangon.

The 22nd Division played a major role in the 1988 carnage and the report lent weight to threats against senior monks issued by Religious Affairs Minister Brigadier-General Thura Myint Maung.

State radio quoted him as saying action would be taken against senior monks if they did not control their charges in protests he said were fomented by political extremists.

That triggered anxiety around the world.

"The regime has a long history of violent reactions to peaceful demonstrations," Gareth Evans, head of the International Crisis Group think-tank, said in a statement.

"If serious loss of life is to be averted, those U.N. members with influence over the government are going to have to come together fast," he said in reference to China, Russia and India.

China, the closest the junta has to a friend, had been making an effort recently to let the generals know how worried the international community was, a Beijing-based diplomat said.

On Tuesday, Beijing said it "certainly hopes Myanmar can maintain stability and resolve the issue in its own way," but left it unclear clear what kind of diplomatic pressure it was exerting on the generals behind the scenes.

One of the world's most isolated regimes, the junta has seldom listened to the opinions of others.

BUSH TO ANNOUNCE SANCTIONS

Others urged the generals to address the grievances of Myanmar's 56 million people who, in the past 50 years, have watched their country go from being one of Asia's brightest prospects to one of its most desperate.

U.S. President George W. Bush was to announce new sanctions and call for support for political change in a speech at the United Nations on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the European Union to impose tighter sanctions.

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari said he was praying the generals opted for compromise and dialogue with the monks and opposition party of Suu Kyi rather than sending in the troops.

"For the sake of the people of Myanmar, for the sake of neighboring countries and for the sake of Myanmar's place in the world, we certainly hope that the same reaction that took place in 1988 will not be the case now," he told CNN.

Myanmar anti-junta protests biggest in 20 years

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people joined Buddhist monks on marches in Myanmar's former capital on Monday in the biggest demonstration against the ruling generals since they crushed student-led protests nearly 20 years ago.

"I'm very excited and frankly I'm worried too," a teacher said as she watched the massed opposition in Yangon to 45 years of army rule that has impoverished the Southeast Asian nation of 53 million people.

A senior U.S. official said President George W. Bush would announce new sanctions against Myanmar's rulers and call for support for political change in the country formerly known as Burma during a speech at the United Nations on Tuesday.

The European Union urged Myanmar's military junta to show the "utmost restraint" in dealing with the demonstrations.

"We hope that the regime will use this opportunity to launch a process of real political reform," said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Protests were reported elsewhere in Myanmar, with residents of Sittwe saying it seemed the entire northwestern coastal town of more than 100,000 people was marching with the monks.

"I've never seen such a big crowd in my life. The whole town came out," one said.

In Mandalay, 10,000 monks and people took to the streets. A demonstration also took place in Bago, just north of Yangon.

The junta, which had been silent since the monks' protests began six days ago, threatened them with legal action.

Minister for Religious Affairs Brigadier General Thura Myint Maung was quoted on state-owned radio as telling senior members of the State Monks Council that the protests were incited by "destructive elements who do not want to see peace, stability and progress in the country."

LOCKING ARMS

Earlier, five columns of maroon-robed monks, one stretching more than a kilometre (nearly a mile), marched from Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, the devoutly Buddhist country's holiest shrine, to the city centre where thousands of people filled five blocks.

"People locked arms around the monks. They were clapping and cheering," a witness said.

Some monks carried placards calling for "Better Living Conditions" and the "Release of Political Prisoners." Another banner said: "May The Peoples' Desire Be Fulfilled."

After holding prayers at the Sule Pagoda in the business district, a crowd estimated at up to 100,000 marched to another pagoda and dispersed peacefully.

For the first time, the marchers included members of parliament elected in 1990 from the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), two days after a dramatic appearance of support for the monks by detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Beyond fresh U.S. sanctions, White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said Bush "is going to announce that there will a visa ban to key individuals associated with the negative activities of the regime, including their families."

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokeswoman issued a statement urging the Myanmar government to show restraint and commending the demonstrators for taking a peaceful approach.

Ban called on the junta to "seize this opportunity to engage without delay in dialogue with all the relevant parties to the national reconciliation process," the statement said.

"IT'S ABOUT REFORM"

What began as anger at sudden steep fuel price rises last month has become a wider movement against the generals, with one monk group calling for peaceful mass protests until the junta fell.

"There's no prospect now of the monks just deciding to abandon this. They are getting braver every day and their demands are getting greater every day, and it's much more overtly political," a Yangon-based diplomat said.

"It's now about Aung San Suu Kyi, it's about reform," the diplomat said. "The monks have got numbers and, if not immunity, then certainly it's much more difficult for the government to crack down on them than ordinary civilians."

Myanmar's regional neighbours, long frustrated by the generals' refusal to speed up reforms, looked on with worry.

"We hope that the ongoing protests will be resolved in a peaceful manner," said the Foreign Ministry of Singapore, one of Myanmar's biggest foreign investors.

There were no signs of trouble during Monday's protests, but rumours of an imminent crackdown swirled in Yangon. One rumour suggested hospitals were being emptied of non-critical patients.

The generals were due to hold a quarterly summit soon in their new capital of Naypyidaw, carved out of the central jungle. Dealing with the protests is sure to top the agenda.

The protests began on August 19 and soon prompted a round-up of the democracy activists who organized them and now face up to 20 years in jail. As the protests have grown, they have drawn public declarations of support from the famous.

The country's biggest stars of the stage, screen and music, including Tun Eindra Bo -- Myanmar's equivalent of Angelina Jolie -- have formed a "Sangkha Support Committee" and pledged to provide the monks with whatever assistance they need.

(Additional reporting by Ed Cropley in Bangkok and Matt Spetalnick in New York)

U.S. urges restraint from Myanmar's military leaders

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday called on Myanmar's military rulers to act with restraint toward tens of thousands of people including Buddhist monks engaged in mass street protests against the junta.

"We are consulting with allies and friends in the region on ways to encourage inclusive dialogue between the regime and those seeking freedom, as well as encouraging the regime to show restraint and be respectful of the people who are making their views known and simply want freedom," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

She said the U.S. embassy was closely watching the situation in the south Asian country, which has seen the biggest demonstrations since the military crushed student-led protests nearly 20 years ago.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, will be among the topics that U.S. President George W. Bush will raise in his address on Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, the White House said.

Monks march anew through Myanmar's biggest city

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - About 600 Buddhist monks marched through Yangon on Friday, the fourth straight day of anti-government protests in the largest city of army-ruled Myanmar.

The maroon-robed monks chanted prayers as they walked from the Shwedagon Pagoda, the holiest shrine in the country formerly known as Burma, to Yangon city hall where ordinary people linked hands to form a protective ring around them.

They met no opposition from watching plainclothes police.

A smaller march earlier near the Mai Lamu Pagoda on the outskirts of Yangon was cut short by heavy rains which have lashed the city for days.

Protest marches by monks are becoming a daily occurrence, a sign that what began as civilian anger at last month's shock fuel price rises is becoming a more deep-rooted religious movement against the generals and their 45-year rule.

More than 150 people have been arrested since the protests began, including two men who were sentenced to two years in prison for giving water to protesting monks in Sittwe in northwest Myanmar last month.

Relatives said the two men -- Maung Saw Thein, 40, and 36-year-old Han Min Lwin -- were freed on Friday after 1,000 monks had marched in Sittwe on Wednesday and threatened more protests unless they were released.

"They both are fine," one relative told Reuters.

The monks have discouraged ordinary people from joining their processions for fear of reprisals against civilians and to ensure the protests remain peaceful.

Memories of the nearly 3,000 people thought to have been killed in 1988 when soldiers crushed pro-democracy protests are still fresh on the streets of the former capital.

"We can't wait for a drastic and meaningful change to our livelihood," one construction worker said. "But we are not sure if the protests will really bring us the change we need."

In his neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city, the worker said, most people were too preoccupied with daily survival to join the protests.

"We earn just enough to survive if the whole family works the whole day," he said.

Nevertheless, several hundred people joined the 500 monks who prayed inside the Shwedagon on Thursday after being locked out for two days to prevent them launching a formal religious boycott of the junta.

Outside Yangon, more and more monasteries have formally refused to accept alms from the junta and their families, which is taken very seriously in the devoutly Buddhist country.

It amounts to excommunication since, without such rites, a Buddhist loses a key route to storing up merit and eventually escaping the cycle of rebirth and attaining nirvana.

Monks launched a similar boycott in 1990 shortly after the generals refused to honour the results of a general election they had lost by a landslide.

Earlier the monasteries were key players in a nationwide uprising against military rule in 1988 and analysts say the generals have been at pains to treat the monks carefully this time around.

"All that is needed is an incident which will trigger the people's anger," a retired professor said.

"A bloody incident or violence or a very unacceptable measure can suddenly push the people onto the streets and join the monks," he said.

Myanmar junta admits used tear gas, warning shots

Aung Hla Tun, Reuters

Published: Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Buddhist monks march through the streets of Yangon September 18, 2007. Buddhist monks staged protest marches in at least two cities, including Yangon and Sittwe, in Myanmar on Tuesday, the day a reported religious boycott of members of the ruling military junta and their associates was due to start. REUTERS/Democratic Voice of Burma

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Buddhist monks march through the streets of Yangon September 18, 2007. Buddhist monks staged protest marches in at least two cities, including Yangon and Sittwe, in Myanmar on Tuesday, the day a reported religious boycott of members of the ruling military junta and their associates was due to start. REUTERS/Democratic Voice of Burma

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta said on Wednesday it had used tear gas and fired warning shots to disperse a crowd of 1,000 Buddhist monks and civilians protesting in the northwestern coastal city of Sittwe.

The admission on state-owned MRTV and in official newspapers was a thinly veiled warning to the former Burma's 53 million people after a month of protests against decades of military rule and soaring fuel and food prices.

"Some protesters, including six monks holding sticks and swords, hit the officials with their weapons," said the New Light of Myanmar, one of the regime's main mouthpieces.

"The protesters became very violent. So in order to control situation, the officials threw a teargas bomb into the group and opened fire in the air to threaten them," it added.

The increasing involvement of monks, key players in a 1988 mass uprising, is a sign the dissent that broke out last month over shock fuel price rises is intensifying.

Throughout four weeks of sporadic demonstrations, the military has been at pains to keep itself in the background, although soldiers did fire warning shots at one monk protest in the central town of Pakokku two weeks ago.

Then, the action by the army -- held responsible for the deaths of up to 3,000 people when it crushed the 1988 uprising -- caused hundreds of young monks to seize government officials the next day and torch four of their vehicles.

Instead of troops, the generals have favored civilian gangs and members of its feared Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) social network.

MONKS ON THE MARCH

Although Tuesday's marches fell far short of a nationwide boycott, monks marched in seven towns and cities, including Yangon, the commercial hub of one of Asia's brightest prospects when it won independence from Britain in 1948.

After more than 45 years of unbroken military rule and economic mismanagement, it is now one of the region's poorest countries.

In Yangon, authorities closed the famed Shwedagon Pagoda, the Southeast Asian nation's holiest shrine, minutes before hundreds of monks arrived for the formal launch of a campaign to refuse to accept alms from anyone connected to the regime.

Such a boycott is taken extremely seriously in the devoutly Buddhist country. Without such rites, a Buddhist loses all chance of attaining nirvana, or release from the cycle of rebirth.

Plainclothes police and USDA members shadowed the monks along their route, taking photographs and video, but there was no trouble and no arrests, witnesses said.

Monks launched a similar religious boycott in 1990 shortly after the generals refused to honor the results of a general election they had lost by a landslide.

The monks' protest coincided with demonstrations at Chinese diplomatic missions across the United States on Tuesday, urging Beijing to use its influence with Myanmar to free political prisoners and end violence against minorities.

Dozens of Myanmar exiles and American activists sought to use the publicity of the 2008 Beijing Olympics to highlight Chinese support for the junta.

"This regime has survived to this day because of Chinese government support -- financial, diplomatic and military," said Aung Din, policy director at the U.S. Campaign for Burma, at a

protest in Washington.

China has sold millions of dollars of arms to Myanmar and is a big importer of its timber, minerals and oil.

A high-profile Olympics-linked campaign for the victims of the deadly conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, another Chinese friend and oil supplier, prodded Beijing to begin to help international efforts to stop the carnage there.

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert in Washington) © Reuters 2007

EXCLUSIVE-Myanmar protests "just the start" - top dissident

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Nearly four weeks of protests in Myanmar are "just the start" of a mass movement against the ruling junta and the grinding poverty endured by the former Burma's 53 million people, a top activist said from hiding. "There is no way this will stop," Htay Kywe told Reuters from a secret location inside Myanmar, where he has been in hiding since evading an Aug. 21 crackdown on dissidents who launched a rare string of protests against shock increases of fuel prices.

"Arresting and killing people will not free us from economic hardship," the 39-year-old said in digitally recorded answers to questions e-mailed by Reuters and authenticated by a person known to be a very close friend.

Thirteen of Htay Kywe's colleagues in the "88 Generation Students Group" that spearheaded a nationwide uprising against military rule in 1988 have been arrested and accused of terrorism, charges that could see them jailed for decades.

But Htay Kywe, who managed to elude midnight raids on homes across Yangon, said the generals who have run the Southeast Asian nation for the last 45 years would never be able to cover up the reality of deepening poverty.

"As long as the public are experiencing a lack of development, economic hardship, authoritarian rule and injustice, there will be, and will always be, a situation where the public will not accept it and will fight back," he said.

More than 150 people have been detained in the current crackdown, one of the harshest since troops were sent in to crush the 1988 uprising with the loss of an estimated 3,000 lives.

Although memories of the bloodshed are still fresh in people's minds, Htay Kywe said increasing economic hardship would fuel the underground social movement.

"As long as they are unable to solve the troubles the country is in today, movements like this will never end," he said. "Like the rising tide and waves, the military government will be hearing these voices loud and clear."

Even as the protests have spread, they have remained focused firmly on deteriorating living conditions in a country seen as one of Asia's brightest prospects when it won independence from Britain in 1948 and now one of the region's poorest.

"AMONG THE PUBLIC"

Countering junta charges he was being "sheltered" by a Western embassy, Htay Kywe said he was hiding "among the public".

"We are hiding because we want to continue working hand-in-hand with the public to show evidence of this military government's untruthful political solutions," he said.

Analysts said the fact he and other activists such as Ma Nilar and Suu Suu Nway had remained undetected for so long suggested the junta's internal spy networks may not be as powerful or sophisticated as they used to be.

In particular, they pointed to the 2004 purge of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and the dismantling of his Military Intelligence-run network of informants and secret police.

Despite the latest crackdown, the fuel price protests have spread to the centre and northwest and have started to involve Buddhist monks, key players in the 1988 uprising.

The army's firing of warning shots to disperse a crowd of protesting monks in Pakokku last week triggered an angry response the next day from monks, who seized 13 government officials and torched four of their vehicles.

U.S. urges humanitarian access to Myanmar prisoners

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States demanded on Tuesday that Myanmar let humanitarian groups visit people arrested in recent protests against fuel price increases, citing unspecified reports they have been brutally beaten.

More than 150 people have been arrested since August 19, when the fuel protests began in Myanmar. The military has ruled the country, formerly known as Burma, for the past 45 years, and the authorities have long been accused of human rights abuses.

"We are concerned for the well-being of the more than 150 Burmese citizens detained since August 19 for their participation in a series of peaceful protests against dramatically increased fuel prices in Burma," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

"Multiple reports indicate that many of these protesters have been brutally beaten and interrogated," he added. "We call upon the Burmese regime to allow access to prisoners by international humanitarian organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, and renew our call for the immediate release of all political prisoners."

The latest crackdown in Myanmar has been one of the harshest since the army crushed a nationwide uprising of monks, students and government workers in 1988, when around 3,000 people are thought to have been killed.

The United States has labeled Myanmar an "outpost of tyranny" and imposed economic sanctions, but the junta has avoided total isolation by using its vast natural gas reserves to befriend energy-hungry China and India.

China, India key to prodding Myanmar

By Caren Bohan and Jalil Hamid

SYDNEY, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The United States and Indonesia believe China and India, which have significant economic ties with Myanmar, should try to exert influence on its junta, since other approaches to the military-ruled country have failed.

U.S. President George W. Bush and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed at a bilateral meeting in Sydney to urge India and China to lean on Myanmar, said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirajuda.

"Bush agreed that we should talk with China and India. They are two big neighbours (of Myanmar)," Hasan told reporters after the meeting on the sideline of an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney.

Hasan said Southeast Asian nations were at a loss as to what to do with their recalcitrant neighbour.

"Actually, all of us in ASEAN have in the past year ... recognised that constructive engagement by ASEAN has not produced any tangible result. We admit that," said Hasan.

"Likewise, also the West, they admit that the sanctions and pressure approach do not work. So we are both frustrated."

Myanmar, one of the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, has in recent days cracked down on escalating protests against huge fuel price rises and inflation in the isolated state.

"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting, harassing, and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organising or participating in peaceful demonstrations," Bush said in a speech to Asia-Pacific business executives on Friday.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey said Bush had raised Myanmar with many leaders at APEC.

"We would be delighted if both of those countries (India and China) would do more. Everybody needs to do more," he said.

"They're both very important countries that have very significant economic ties with Burma. They both rely on natural resources from Burma, so they're in a good position to be influential, as are other countries," he said.

"I wouldn't want to single out specific actions. We want everybody to take the Burma situation seriously. We are working in a variety of ways and a variety of channels."

FUEL HIKE PROTESTS

More than 150 people have been arrested in Myanmar since Aug. 19, when activists began protests against an increase in fuel prices that nearly halted public transport.

There was no sign the junta was about to release them. Instead, it sounded a defiant note, accusing exile dissident groups of fomenting the protests and signalling no let-up in efforts to crush the dissent.

China, Myanmar's closest ally which is usually reticent when it comes to the affairs of others, has also sounded frustrated with its southeast Asian neighbour.

"China all along has advocated non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. This is a very important principle," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

But he added China felt that constructive international efforts could help create a "good external environment that is beneficial to Myanmar's situation" and reconciliation.

"In handling the relevant problems China has all along not been supportive of the use of sanctions and pressure," he said.

"We believe that on this issue mutual respect and equal dialogue is the best way to resolve things."

The flurry of diplomacy in Sydney came after two days of protests by Buddhist monks who seized 13 government officials and torched their cars in the town of Pakkoku, 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Mandalay.

The repeated outbreaks of dissent, albeit generally small and not swelled by onlookers cowed by all-pervasive security, have been notable for their persistence despite the prospect of long jail terms. (Additional reorting by John Ruwitch in Sydney)

Myanmar junta accuses top activists of terrorism

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta accused 13 detained dissidents of terrorism on Saturday, suggesting it would impose long jail sentences on some of those suspected of being behind two weeks of protests against soaring fuel prices.

"The terrorists will be exposed and legal action will be taken against them," the former Burma's ruling generals said in a rare public statement on state-run radio and television.

The announcement, accompanied by a lengthy account of the group's alleged subversion, came a day after six people who ran a May Day labour rights seminar at the American Center in Yangon were sentenced to at least 20 years for sedition -- the maximum penalty for plotting against the state.

Most of the 13 are leaders of the so-called "88 Generation Students Group" which spearheaded a nationwide uprising against decades of military rule in 1988. Up to 3,000 people are thought to have died when troops were sent in to crush the movement.

Min Ko Naing, the most prominent dissident figure after detained opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is among the 13.

Family sources were checking rumours sweeping through opposition ranks that Ko Jimmy, one of those arrested in a series of midnight raids on Aug. 21, had died in police custody.

Some analysts said the rumours might be a junta ruse to flush out his wife, Ma Nilar, who has gone into hiding. The couple have a four-month-old daughter.

"NOTHING TO DO WITH SEDITION"

Coming so close to the harsh sentencing of the labour activists, the announcement suggests the junta is determined to squash the dissent that has mushroomed since last month's shock hikes in fuel prices -- some by as much as 500 percent.

Four of the labour activists received 20 years for sedition, five years under "illegal association" laws, and three years for immigration offences, lawyer Aung Thein said. The other two were found guilty only of sedition and given a 20-year jail term plus a fine of 1,000 kyats -- about 75 U.S. cents.

"What they did at the May Day ceremony was explain labour rights to the workers," Aung Thein, who was forced to quit as the group's attorney due to police harassment, told Reuters. "It had nothing to do with sedition."

Families were allowed into the court, but the accused had no defence lawyer.

Continuing its hunt for a few prominent activists still at large, official papers also called on the public to keep their eyes open for "saboteurs", saying the government, people and army must unite to crush "the enemies within and without".

There were no reports on Saturday of any more fuel protests that have spread from Yangon to the centre and coastal northwest, and which are starting to involve monks, major players in the 1988 revolt.

This week, several hundred young monks seized 13 government officials and set fire to their vehicles in Pakokku, 130 km west of Mandalay, in an angry response to soldiers firing warning shots at a monks' protest march the previous day.

The crackdown, one of the harshest since 1988, has drawn withering criticism from the United States and European Union, and unusually strong words from Myanmar's Asian neighbours.

Even China, the generals' main trading partner and the closest they have to a friend, said it wanted to see "reconciliation and improvement in the situation".

Myanmar labour activists get 20 years in jail

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta has sentenced six young labour activists to between 20 and 28 years in jail at a closed trial inside Yangon's infamous Insein prison, their former lawyer said on Saturday.

The six, who are in their late 20s and early 30s, were arrested for helping organise a May Day workers' rights seminar at the American Center in the former Burma's main commercial city.

Four of the activists, named as Thurein Aung, Wai Lin, Kyaw Min and Myo Min, received 20 years for sedition, five years under "illegal association" laws, and three years for immigration offences, lawyer Aung Thein said.

The other two, Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Kyaw, were found guilty only of sedition, and given a 20-year jail term plus a fine of 1,000 kyats -- about 75 U.S. cents.

"What they did at the May Day ceremony was explain labour rights to the workers," Aung Thein, who was forced to quit as the group's attorney due to police harassment, told Reuters. "It had nothing to do with sedition."

The closed-door trial started on July 23 and the sentences -- the maximum allowed for sedition -- were handed down late on Friday. The activists' families were allowed into the court to hear the judgments. There was no defence lawyer.

The particularly harsh sentences do not augur well for 13 top dissidents arrested last month and now in prison awaiting trial on sedition charges.

Continuing its crackdown on more than two weeks of protests against soaring fuel prices, the junta's papers launched a second day of attacks on exile dissident groups, accusing them of fomenting unrest and planning a violent revolution.

"The expatriate terrorists are plotting by various ways and means to undermine national peace and stability and prevalence of law and order in cohort with destructive elements within," the New Light of Myanmar, the junta's official mouthpiece, said.

Most of the groups mentioned are based in India or Thailand, where they have been since the army was sent in to crush a nationwide uprising against decades of military rule in 1988. Around 3,000 people are thought to have been killed.

The paper also called on the public to keep their eyes open for "saboteurs", saying it was vital the government, the people and the army united to crush "the enemies within and without".

There were no reports on Saturday of any more of the fuel price protests that have spread from Yangon to the centre and coastal northwest, and which are starting to involve the monkhood, major players in the 1988 revolt.

This week, several hundred young monks seized 13 government officials and torched their vehicles in Pakokku, 80 miles (130 km) west of Mandalay, in an angry response to soldiers firing warning shots at a monks' protest march the previous day.

The crackdown, one of the harshest since 1988, has drawn withering criticism from the United States and European Union, and unusually strong words from Myanmar's Asian neighbours.

Even China, the generals' main trading partner and the closest they have to a friend, said it wanted to see "reconciliation and improvement in the situation".

Fugitive Myanmar dissident appeals to U.N. chief

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BANGKOK (Reuters) - A dissident leader on the run from Myanmar's crackdown on protests triggered by huge fuel price rises appealed to the head of the United Nations on Friday to refer the military junta to the Security Council.

In a letter written from hiding to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, activist Htay Kywe said he feared the suppression of a rare string of protests could turn bloody, as it did in 1988 when up to 3,000 people are thought to have been killed.

"As you are aware, demonstrations are growing in many parts of the country in spite of the violent crackdowns and continuing abduction of protesters by the authorities," Htay Kwye said.

"These violent responses must be seen as early warnings of more brutal violence," he said in the signed letter obtained by Reuters in Bangkok.

Htay Kwye, a prominent member of the so-called "88 Generation Students Group", has been on the run since police arrested 13 of his colleagues in midnight raids in Yangon two weeks ago.

"We urgently need your practical support this time to prevent the real possibility of further violence and urge you as head of the United Nations to take prompt action with preventive measures by taking accounts of these early warning signs," he said.

International condemnation of the junta's suppression of the protests has mounted this week, with U.S. President George W. Bush and the European Union calling for the release of all those arrested.

Even China, the former Burma's main trading partner and the closest the generals have to a friend, has appeared frustrated, saying it wanted reconciliation and "improvement in the situation".

The United States and Britain referred Myanmar to the U.N. Security Council in January, but China and Russia cast a rare joint veto against a motion calling for an end to the persecution of ethnic minorities and opposition groups.

Myanmar junta blames exiles for unrest

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By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling generals accused exile dissident groups on Friday of fomenting two weeks of rare protests and signalled there would be no let up in efforts to crush them despite harsh U.S. and European Union criticism.

"The government has information that external anti-government groups are giving directives and providing various sorts of assistance to internal anti-government groups to stir up mass demonstrations and instability," state-run newspapers said.

"The people will not accept any acts to destabilise the nation and harm their interests and are willing to prevent such destructive acts," they said.

There was no direct reference to tough criticism from U.S. President George W. Bush and the European Commission of one of the harshest crackdowns on dissent in the former Burma since the army ruthlessly crushed an uprising in 1988.

The Myanmar military, which has ruled since 1962, rarely reacts directly to external pressure or rhetoric, much to the frustration of fellow members of the Association of South East Asian Nations which have tried and failed to foster change.

But China, Myanmar's largest trading partner and the closest it has to a friend, also sounded frustrated on Friday, saying it wanted reconciliation and improved conditions there and welcomed international efforts to that end.

"China is willing to strengthen its communication and dialogue with all the relevant sides, including the United States," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said during an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney.

"We hope to see reconciliation and improvement in the situation in Burma," he said in a pointed comment that followed an unflattering account of Myanmar's new jungle capital his ministry published earlier this year.

However, Myanmar did not come up in bilateral meetings Chinese President Hu Jintao held in recent days, including one with Bush, Liu said.

MONKS "MANHANDLED"

The comments came after two days of protests by Buddhist monks in the town of Pakkoku, 80 miles (130 km) south-west of Mandalay, the latest against huge fuel price rises last month.

State-owned MRTV said the seizure of 13 government officials and torching of their cars by young monks on Thursday was the result of external agitation.

Pakkoku residents blamed the junta, whose troops fired warning shots over the heads of monks during a peaceful protest march the previous day.

Soldiers and pro-junta gangs had manhandled monks and bystanders when they broke up the march, some people said.

"The monks were just peacefully marching, reciting holy scriptures. But it was handled very cruelly and rudely. Some monks were beaten and tied up to the lampposts," one said.

Another said local members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, the pro-junta civilian group used to break up many of the protests, had gone into hiding because some young monks had been looking for them.

The repeated outbreaks of protest, albeit generally small and not swelled by onlookers cowed by all-pervasive security, have been notable for their persistence despite the prospect of long jail terms.

They have continued despite the detention of most of the leaders of the 1988 protests for their roles in the latest demonstrations. Up to 3,000 people are believed to have been killed in the military's crackdown against the 1988 protests.

Those arrested include Min Ko Naing, the most influential dissident after detained Nobel laureate and National League for Democracy chief Aung San Suu Kyi.

Min Ko Naing spent 15 years in jail after the 1988 uprising and official newspapers say he and his colleagues face up to 20 more years behind bars.

Bush called for the release of all those arrested and for action, although years of U.S. and European Union sanctions on Myanmar appear to have left the junta unmoved.

"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting, harassing and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organising or participating in peaceful demonstrations," Bush said.

The European Commission called human rights violations in Myanmar a scandal and said the junta was a threat to Southeast Asia, but it said the world needed to engage Myanmar, one of the world's most isolated regimes.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Sydney and David Brunnstrom in Strasbourg)

Angry monks move Myanmar protests up a notch

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Sporadic protests in army-ruled Myanmar look set to rumble on despite a major crackdown as savage fuel price rises feed through to the wider economy, analysts and diplomats said on Friday.

Throughout two weeks of determined demonstrations by social activists, monks and opposition politicians, the focus has stayed unwaveringly on the worsening daily grind of the former Burma's 53 million people.

Calls of "Freedom" for opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, now in her 12th year of house arrest, have been remarkable mainly by their absence.

Instead, Buddhist monks say they cannot afford razors to shave their heads, and people in Yangon -- the engine of what 50 years ago was one of Asia's brightest economies -- complain of selling family heirlooms to buy kerosene or pawning cooking pots to pay the bus fare to work.

"People genuinely have their backs to the wall and we haven't seen the end of it," one Yangon-based diplomat said, predicting accelerating inflation as last month's two-fold hike in the price of diesel and five-fold rise in natural gas prices pass through the economy.

But the longer the protests drag on and the worse living conditions become, the greater the chances of a spark that could ignite a more widespread "people power" revolt.

"I don't see it as gaining sufficient traction to really start, but the longer this ticks on, and the more electricity and other commodity prices feed through, there's always the risk of a trigger that will move it into a second gear," the diplomat said.

The currency, the kyat, is near historic lows at around 1,350 to the dollar and economists estimate annual inflation at around 50 percent.

High-grade rice is now 32,000 kyat a sack compared to 28,000 six months ago, triggering speculation the junta that first seized power in a 1962 coup may start doling out food to assuage public hunger and anger.

"All it needs is one little spark to harness people's suffering and hatred of the military," said Aung Naing Oo, a student activist who fled to Thailand to escape a ruthless military crackdown on a nationwide uprising in 1988.

Then, as many as 3,000 people are thought to have been killed.

MONKS MARCHING

While more than 100 people have been detained in the current protests so far, the junta is reluctant to go all out and send in the troops, perhaps mindful of the 1988 bloodshed, a watershed moment in the Southeast Asian nation's post-independence history.

Apart from soldiers firing over the heads of demonstrating monks in the central town of Pakokku this week, most of the protests have been broken up by pro-junta civilian gangs.

Despite the crackdown and removal of most of the leaders of the 1988 uprising, the protests have spread from Yangon, the former capital, to the centre and the coastal northwest. Monks, major players in 1988, are becoming increasingly involved.

As several hundred angry monks torched government vehicles in Pakokku, the junta number two, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, postponed a trip to Bangladesh, a sign of how seriously the junta takes the threat from the monasteries.

"There will be a great deal of anger among the monkhood when they get to hear about what happened," one human rights worker said. "It's pretty obvious it's gone to another level."

As well as the wave of dissent assuming a life of its own, diplomats and exile groups said Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party was playing a quiet, behind-the-scenes role.

"Everywhere that protests have occurred, NLD members have been involved. They may not have been leading party members, but they've been involved," said Soe Aung of the National Council of the Union of Burma, a group of MPs now in exile in Thailand.

Greater access to mobile phones and the Internet is also playing a role in disseminating news beyond the rigidly controlled state media, which paint the protests as the work of "external destructive forces" -- junta shorthand for exiled dissidents and foreign governments.

However, the most powerful media remain the Burmese-language services of the BBC, Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, the only source of news most people have.

"Myanmar radio is just pop singers and lies," a man in Kyaing Tong in eastern Shan state told Reuters last month.

The BBC and VOA also pump in the scathing comments from Western governments, especially the White House, and messages of support from Hollywood stars such as Robin Williams and Jim Carrey, who posted a clip on Youtube urging Suu Kyi's release.

"People listen to the radio on a regular basis and I'm pretty sure they enjoy these kind of messages from around the world," Soe Aung said.

Bush and Putin seek to engage Asia

By Michael Perry

SYDNEY (Reuters) - President George W. Bush prepared for an Asia-Pacific summit in Australia, saying on Friday the United States would consider a peace treaty with North Korea if it gave up nuclear arms.

Washington has been accused of ignoring Asia as it focuses on Iraq, but on the eve of this weekend's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Bush weighed into major regional issues.

"We must press the regime in Burma (Myanmar) to stop arresting, harassing, and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations," Bush said in a speech to Asia-Pacific business executives in Sydney.

The comments come a day after hundreds of Buddhist monks held a group of government officials for several hours and torched their cars in anger against the military that rules impoverished Myanmar, formerly called Burma.

Bush also said China should allow more freedoms ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games and later after meeting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun offered the possibility of a treaty with Pyongyang.

"We're looking forward to the day when we can end the Korean War. That will happen when Kim Jong-il verifiably dismantles his weapons program," said Bush.

"If you could be a little clearer..." Roh urged the president. Bush then said more directly that he was referring to a formal peace agreement. Fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an inconclusive truce.

Bush's comments follow several weeks of apparent progress in ending a crisis over the weapons program of a country he had once bracketed with pre-war Iraq and Iran in an "axis of evil."

A Foreign Ministry spokesman for China, which fought along side the North in the Korean War and was a party to the original ceasefire, said Roh had raised the issue in a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier in the day and Beijing had a "positive attitude" toward the prospect of a truce.

Next week, nuclear experts from the United States, China and Russia will visit North Korea to conduct a survey of nuclear facilities to be disabled, U.S. envoy Chris Hill said on Friday.

The inspections "would mark another important step toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said Hill in Sydney.

RUSSIA LOOKS EAST

Myanmar's crackdown on protests against huge fuel price rises also drew expressions of dismay from other Asia-Pacific nations. China, Myanmar's closest ally which is usually reticent when it comes to the affairs of others, also sounded frustrated with its southeast Asian neighbor.

"We hope to see reconciliation and improvement in the situation in Burma," said a foreign ministry spokesman.

But while Bush was reinforcing his Asian credentials, Russian President Vladimir Putin was seeking to forge new links.

"Closer ties with APEC naturally complements our own plans of economic development of Siberia and the Far East," Putin said.

Putin signed a major deal on Friday to buy Australian uranium to fuel civilian nuclear plants -- a day after snaring a $1 billion arms sale deal with Indonesia.

Australia holds 40 percent of the world's reserves, but only agreed to sell uranium to Moscow after guarantees it would not be resold to Iran or Syria. Russia has close ties with both states.

Putin is vying with the United States and China for a leading role in the region and wants Russia to host 2012 APEC summit.

Putin and Bush met in Sydney but did not delve deeply into any sensitive subjects, instead the men reminisced about fishing.

Bush on Friday offered to host a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders at his Texas ranch, as he sought to counter perceptions that he was not paying enough attention to the region.

He also said he planned to name an ambassador to the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

On the issue of trade, Bush said he was ready to show flexibility to jump-start the moribund Doha round of world trade talks, which he called a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.

But he said intransigence by just a handful of countries could bring negotiations to a standstill.

Host Australia has placed climate change at the top of the APEC leaders' agenda and Bush says he will support a strong statement on global warming.

But there is a split in APEC over climate change, with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceding there were "very difficult negotiations" underway.

"If we can get a good declaration out of this, that will be a very great achievement. But I make no predictions about how those negotiations will go," Downer told reporters.

(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch, Caren Bohan, Matt Spetalnick and Jalil Hamid)

Bush offers N.Korea peace deal, scolds Myanmar

By Bill Tarrant

SYDNEY (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Friday the United States would be willing to consider a formal peace treaty with North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons program.

"We're looking forward to the day when we can end the Korean War. That will happen when Kim Jong-il verifiably dismantles his weapons program," Bush told reporters after meeting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun as Asia-Pacific leaders gathered for a summit in Australia.

"If you could be a little clearer," Roh urged the president after his initial comment.

Bush said he thought he had been as clear as he could be, then said more directly that he was referring to a formal peace agreement. Fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War was halted with an inclusive truce.

Bush said he was "optimistic" about the progress of the effort to get North Korea to give up its weapons, but said there was still more work to be done.

While Bush was circumspect about North Korea, which has one of the most repressive regimes in the world, the president was less reticent about political freedom elsewhere in Asia, urging China and Russia to be more open and rebuking Myanmar for its assault on political activists.

OLYMPICS FREEDOM

In a speech to business executives, Bush said the eyes of the world would be on Beijing and called on China to allow more freedoms ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.

"We urge China's leaders to use this moment to show confidence by demonstrating a commitment to greater openness and tolerance," said the President a day after accepting an invitation from China's President Hu Jintao to attend the games.

Bush also demanded the immediate release of Myanmar activists detained by the army and called on the ruling junta to stop "assaulting pro-democracy activists."

On Thursday, hundreds of Buddhist monks held a group of government officials for several hours and torched their cars in anger against the military that rules the impoverished Southeast Asian country, formerly called Burma.

Beijing shuns interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, but China welcomed international efforts to help the situation in Myanmar as long as it was done with a "constructive attitude and on the basis of mutual respect," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.

Southeast Asian leaders will discuss Myanmar with Bush at lunch on Friday, said a spokesman for Thailand's prime minister.

Hours before talks with President Vladimir Putin, Bush said the United States would encourage Russian leaders "to respect the checks and balances that are essential to democracy."

RUSSIANS ARE COMING

Putin, vying with the United States and China to be a part of the booming Asia-Pacific region, signed a deal on Friday to buy uranium from Australia to power its civilian nuclear power plants.

Australia holds 40 percent of the world's reserves, but only agreed to sell uranium to Moscow after guarantees it would not be resold to Iran or Syria. Russia has close ties with both states.

Putin visited Indonesia on Thursday in a clear sign of his commitment to turn Moscow's face to Asia, signing a $1 billion deal to sell Russian tanks, helicopters and submarines.

Russia has now become the largest weapons supplier in Asia.

Putin and Bush were expected to talk later in the day about

U.S. missile defense plans in Europe, the most recent irritant to their relations.

Bush also said he was ready to show flexibility to jump-start world trade talks, but intransigence by just a handful of countries could bring negotiations to a standstill.

Bush has made accelerating the Doha trade talks a top priority at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting.

The talks, which started in 2001, have been bogged down by divisions between developed and developing nations over farm subsidies and industrial tariffs.

APEC economies account for almost half of global trade and nearly 60 percent of the world's gross domestic product, and a collapse of the Doha round could have a chilling effect.

(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch, Caren Bohan, Matt Spetalnick and Jalil Hamid)

EU calls rights violations in Myanmar a scandal

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STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday called human rights violations in Myanmar a scandal and said its military government was a threat to the Southeast Asian region.

But the EU executive said isolating Myanmar was not the way to encourage change.

"The Commission remains very worried about this situation," EU Commissioner Viviane Reding told the European Parliament. "We are believing that the military regime is a threat to the region, most of all to the country and the people of Burma."

Reding said much of Myanmar's population lived "in anguish and poverty" and the Commission viewed the rights situation as a "scandal".

She dismissed a National Convention process which this month completed the first stage of drawing up a new constitution as a procedure to boost the power of the current government.

"It was certainly not a genuine exercise to draft a new constitution and it was certainly far from inclusive," she said, adding that the European Union backed a U.N. call for a transparent and inclusive process.

"An effective policy should aim at bringing the country back into the international community. As regards engaging the regime, there is a consensus more needs to be done, not less. Isolation will only make the population pay a greater price."

The commissioner said communication channels needed to be kept open with the government, notably to allow the EU to convey its concerns on human rights.

More than 150 people have been arrested in a crackdown on dissent in Myanmar since Aug. 19, when activists began protests against an increase in fuel prices that nearly froze transport.

The crackdown has been one of the harshest since the army crushed a nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988, when around 3,000 people are thought to have been killed.

Hundreds of monks held a group of government officials for more than four hours on Thursday and torched their cars after the officials went to a monastery in the town of Pakokku to apologise for soldiers firing over the heads of protesting monks on Wednesday.

"We do not believe that additional restrictive measures will push the government in the desired direction or will alleviate the suffering of the people," Reding said.

Bush calls for release of Myanmar activists

SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday demanded the immediate release of Myanmar activists and called on the ruling junta to stop "assaulting pro-democracy activists.

"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting, harassing, and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations," Bush said, according to the text of a speech he was giving on Friday Morning to Asia-Pacific business executives.

"The Burmese regime must release these activists immediately, stop its intimidation of those Burmese citizens who are promoting democracy and human rights, and release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi," Bush declared.

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Bush calls for release of Myanmar activists