Burma: Defiant monks resume street protests

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 : Tens of thousands of Buddhist monks in Myanmar marched in defiance of the military junta's order to discontinue anti-government demonstrations, conducting an eighth day of mass protests in the country's two largest cities. Cheered on by supporters and shadowed by pro-junta supporters in pickup trucks, the monks marched peacefully Tuesday from the soaring Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital Yangon as about 700 others staged a similar show of defiance in the country's second-largest city of Mandalay.

The protests, which have reached 100,000 in recent days, have built to a scale and level of fervor not seen since a 1988 uprising when the military regime fired on peaceful crowds and launched a crackdown that killed thousands in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Following Monday's demonstrations, led by a phalanx of barefoot monks, the U.S. said it was poised to impose additional sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers.

President Bush was to announce the sanctions against key members of the junta and those who provide them financial aid in a Tuesday speech at the U.N. General Assembly, the White House said.

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

So far, Myanmar's junta has been handling the monks gingerly, wary of raising the ire of ordinary citizens in this devout, predominantly Buddhist nation.

Listen Online

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 : Tens of thousands of people defy the military and protest in Rangoon, prompting troops to appear in the city centre.

Monks have called for political prisoners to be freed

Some chanted "we want dialogue". Others simply shouted "democracy, democracy".

Earlier, lorries with loudspeakers warned residents that the protests could be "dispersed by military force".

After the march finished, eyewitnesses told two news agencies they had seen several military trucks moving on Rangoon's streets.

Read More