Observer
Cities across the world launched a day of protests against Burma's junta yesterday, as the military regime admitted it had detained hundreds of Buddhist monks when troops turned their guns on pro-democracy demonstrators.
The protests came as Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged an extra £1m to fund emergency humanitarian aid for the Burmese people and UN Security Council members continued to deliberate their reaction to the clampdown that saw members of Burma's army - the Tatmadaw - and the hated Lon Htien riot police fire into crowds of demonstrators, killing at least 10 people that the junta admits. Opposition groups claim the real number of dead may run to scores.
Meeting Burmese campaigners yesterday, Brown said: 'We will not tolerate the abuses that have taken place. And I want all the other leaders of the world to work with us, to achieve the progress that all of you want to achieve in Burma - an end to abuse of human rights.'
International condemnation of Burma's junta had intensified at the United Nations on Friday, with the US warning it would push for UN sanctions against Burma if it failed to respond to demands for democratic reforms.
Pro-democracy demonstrators have called off street protests amid massive round-ups of monks and night-time raids by soldiers on the homes of suspected activists. Opponents say that with most of Rangoon's monks now off the streets - detained or sent back to their villages - the regime's main targets are journalists or anyone with recording or equipment or a mobile phone with a camera.
The junta's treatment of the Buddhist monks - who are revered in this deeply religious nation - is an issue that could further inflame the people and anger soldiers loyal to the military rulers.
The government said most of the monks it detained had been freed, with only 109 still in custody, according to a statement broadcast on Friday on state TV. The report said the junta was still hunting four monks whom it believed to be ringleaders of the rallies.
In Rangoon activists told a different story. 'There were many arrested but we cannot say how many ... thousands of monks and activists have been detained,' said one. The activist said many had been taken to the Government Technical Institute, north of the airport in Rangoon, which has been converted into a detention centre. Others have been rounded up at the old racecourse, which is also serving as a makeshift prison.
'By day and night they are raiding monasteries. They blockaded some monasteries and sent troops to monitor them. Many students have disappeared too. They have put them in detention centres because the prisons are full after so many arrests,' the activist said.
Demonstrations that began in mid-August over a fuel price increase swelled into Burma's largest anti-government protests in 19 years, inspired largely by thousands of monks who poured into the streets.
TV images in the past week showed soldiers shooting into crowds of unarmed protesters. The government described the troops' reaction as 'systematically controlling' the protesters.
At the United Nations in New York, the UN's special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari - who met the detained leader for democratic change, Aung San Suu Kyi - urged the military rulers to start talks with her. Gambari said he was 'cautiously encouraged' after the junta chief, Senior General Than Shwe, offered to meet Suu Kyi, with conditions. Those include her giving up calls for confronting the government and imposing sanctions. He stressed, however, that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for talks without preconditions to overcome 'the high level of mistrust' between Than Shwe and Suu Kyi.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
