Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Monks march in central Myanmar

(CNN) -- More than 70 Buddhist monks marched in central Myanmar Wednesday, dissident sources near the Myanmar-Thailand border told CNN.

The march took place in the town of Pakokku, located about 330 miles (530 kilometers) north-northwest of Yangon. The march was the first reported since a government crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in September, in which as many as 110 people are believed to have been killed -- including 40 Buddhist monks.

The monks in Pakokku shouted no slogans, but The Associated Press cited one monk who told the Democratic Voice of Burma -- a Norway-based short-wave radio station and Web site run by dissident journalists -- that it was a continuation of protests last month.

"We walked around the town and chanted ... We are continuing our protest from last month as we have not yet achieved any of the demands we asked for," the monk told Democratic Voice of Burma in the AP report.

He said that they had little time to organize the march so it was small but "there will be more organized and bigger protests soon."

The demonstrations in Yangon last month numbered up to 100,000 people and were crushed when troops fired on protesters September 26-27 in a crackdown that left at least 10 people dead by the government's count, drawing international condemnation.

Myanmar's military junta admitted in mid October to detaining more than 2,900 people during the crackdown, with hundreds of them still believed to be in custody.

Casualty estimates vary, but some opposition groups says as many as 200 people may have been killed.

No comments: