More Dead in Burma as Troops Fire on Defiant Anti-Government Protesters

In Burma, the military junta is continuing its violent crackdown on the most vocal popular uprising against its rule in nearly two decades. Burmese soldiers and police are baton-charging groups of demonstrators gathering in the city of Rangoon. State-run television admitted that nine people had been killed on Thursday but Australia's ambassador in Burma, Bob Davis, told his country's ABC radio that the real death toll was probably several times higher. One of the people killed on Thursday was Japanese photojournalist, Kenji Nagai. Video footage shows him being shot point-blank when soldiers charged the crowds. Japan said it would make an official protest over his death.

All the main roads into central Rangoon have been blocked and soldiers have been progressively moving the barricades to seal off central neighborhoods. Security forces have also sealed off the five main monasteries that were focal points of previous mass marches and are trying to prevent further protests. Buddhist monks have been leading the nearly two weeks of popular protests against the ruling junta. But after a series of raids on monasteries and arrests of hundreds of monks, there were few, if any, in the crowd on Friday. At least six Buddhist monks have been killed so far.

Most of the news coming out of Burma this week has been from citizen journalists who have sent pictures and video to international media outlets. But the military junta is cracking down on the use of cell phones and cutting Internet access in an attempt to stem the flow of information.

President Bush has condemned the crackdown and has tightened sanctions on Burma's military leaders. Bush called on China, one of Burma's closest neighbors and a main trading partner, to put more pressure on the country. Beijing has urged all parties to "maintain restraint", but has refused to condemn the junta.

• Htun Aung Gway, President of the U.S.-based Civil Society for Burma. He is the former president of the All Burma Student Democratic Front that led the protests of 1974 and 1988. He was imprisoned for five years in Burma and came to the United States in 1992 after living in the jungle on the Burmese-Thai border for 4 years. He now lives in Chicago.

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