Monks return to streets of Burma

YANGON – Buddhist monks in Myanmar staged a protest march on Wednesday, their first since soldiers crushed a pro-democracy uprising a month ago, as UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari prepared a return visit to the former Burma.

A Yangon-based Asian diplomat said Gambari, who first visited shortly after the army crackdown, would arrive on November 3 on a second mission to coax the generals into talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The latest march by monks in the central town of Pakokku, 600 km northwest of Yangon, suggests the crackdown merely managed to stifle, not eradicate, widespread anger at 45 years of military rule and deepening poverty.The town has been a flashpoint since soldiers fired over the heads of monks in early September, transforming small, localised protests against shock hikes in fuel prices into the biggest anti-junta uprising in two decades A witness told Reuters about 200 maroon-robed monks chanted prayers as they walked three abreast through the centre of the town.The Democratic Voice of Burma, a dissident radio station based in Norway, said the monks were sticking to their demands for lower fuel prices, national reconciliation and release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.”We are not afraid of getting arrested or tortured,” a monk was quoted as saying.There were no reports of trouble.One resident, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said the monks had deliberately chosen a route to avoid clashes with junta-sponsored rallies to condemn last month’s demonstrations.Official media say 10 people, including a Japanese video journalist, were killed when soldiers were sent in to clear the streets, although Western governments said the real toll was likely to be far higher.Gambari has been on a six-country Asian diplomatic tour to press neighbours – especially India and China – to take a tougher line against the generals.Nampa-ReutersThe latest march by monks in the central town of Pakokku, 600 km northwest of Yangon, suggests the crackdown merely managed to stifle, not eradicate, widespread anger at 45 years of military rule and deepening poverty.The town has been a flashpoint since soldiers fired over the heads of monks in early September, transforming small, localised protests against shock hikes in fuel prices into the biggest anti-junta uprising in two decades A witness told Reuters about 200 maroon-robed monks chanted prayers as they walked three abreast through the centre of the town.The Democratic Voice of Burma, a dissident radio station based in Norway, said the monks were sticking to their demands for lower fuel prices, national reconciliation and release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.”We are not afraid of getting arrested or tortured,” a monk was quoted as saying.There were no reports of trouble.One resident, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said the monks had deliberately chosen a route to avoid clashes with junta-sponsored rallies to condemn last month’s demonstrations.Official media say 10 people, including a Japanese video journalist, were killed when soldiers were sent in to clear the streets, although Western governments said the real toll was likely to be far higher.Gambari has been on a six-country Asian diplomatic tour to press neighbours – especially India and China – to take a tougher line against the generals.Nampa-Reuters