Protests; military crackdown in Burma intensifies
The military junta in Burma killed up to eight protesters in the last two days, and arrested about 500 monks.
There are now late-breaking reports Burmese troops have opened fired on a crowd of thousands assembled in central Rangoon. Military forces have also raided several monasteries, arresting an estimated five hundred monks. On Wednesday, British ambassador Mark Canning described the scene on the streets.
British ambassador Mark Canning:“There were a series of arrests over night of pro-democracy activists. A curfew has been announced from dusk to dawn starting this evening. And I think the question then was whether all these measures would intimidate people into not marching as they have been for the last eight days. And I think the answer is that it did not. There have been many thousands of people out on the streets again.”
Meanwhile the exiled Burmese opposition leader Sein Win called for more international pressure on the junta.
Sein Win: “The military always don’t want to talk with others. This is their way, you know. They always did it like that, in 1988, and before ‘88 also. They never negotiate. They look at this as a kind of military operation, this is not a military operation, it is a political demonstration.”
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