Myanmar troops pen monks in monasteries

[babylonsister]

Source: Reuters

Myanmar troops pen monks in monasteries

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Troops and riot police took up positions outside at least six big activist monasteries in Yangon on Wednesday as Myanmar's junta tried to prevent monks leading new protest marches against military rule, witnesses said.

Hundreds more waited in a park behind the Sule Pagoda, the city centre focus of the biggest protests against the generals in 20 years, apparently prepared to prevent any repetition, they said.

There was no immediate word from the monks on whether they would risk their first major confrontation with the junta by trying to march again despite fears of a repetition of the bloody end to a 1988 uprising, primarily in the Sule Pagoda area.


more...

Read more: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-09-26T033420Z_01_B588599_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-MYANMAR-COL.XML

[uppityperson]

1. k&r for the monastery residents, the monks, people everywhere fighting inhumanities.

[babylonsister]

2. This is breaking news, I think. nt

[uppityperson]

3. I think so. Here is news from people in Burma...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7011884.stm

BBC, Guardian, Independent, all mainpage. CNN? Have to search deeper. Sigh. This is front page news and I think breaking, unless they combine it.
Regional media news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7012743.stm

[Beerboy]

4. * mentioned Myanmar today,

what natural resources do they have to exploit? Is he going to nuke a friendly military dictatorship or a fundie buddhist theocracy? Whenever * mentions a government critically, the corporations can start generating spreadsheets.

[neohippie]

30. heard on NPR today

Burma (Miramar) is natural resource rich, especially natural gas reserves, and China considers this country important for both strategic and economic reasons.

According to the US Dept of State "Burma is a resource-rich country with a strong agricultural base. It also has vast timber, natural gas, and fishery reserves and is a leading source of gems and jade."

link http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35910.htm

[David in Canada]

5. Aung San Suu Kyi arrested

There are reports that Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and sent to Insein prison and that cell phone networks have been shut down and Internet cafes shuttered.

[Tom Joad]

7. She may be President next week.

[Tom Joad]

8. A quote.....

"What is there to be discouraged about? Gandhi said the victory is in
the struggle itself. The struggle itself is the most important thing. I tell
our followers that when we achieve democracy, we will look back
with nostalgia on the struggle and how pure we were."
Aung San Suu Kyi

[Tom Joad]

6. Fearless: Police Fire Warning Shots in Burma

Police in riot gear fired warning shots to disperse more than 100 Buddhist monks who defied the military government's ban on public assembly Wednesday by trying to penetrate a barricade blocking Yangon's famed Shwedagon Pagoda.


The junta had banned all public gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nighttime curfew following eight days of anti-government marches led by monks in Yangon and other areas of the country, including the largest in nearly two decades.


Firing shots into the air, beating their shields with batons and shouting orders to disperse, the police chased some of the monks and about 200 of their supporters while others tried to stubbornly hold their place near the eastern gate to the vast shrine complex.


Some fell to the ground amid the chaos and at least one monks was seen struck with a baton.


THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/25/international/i231517D99.DTL

[jeff30997]

9. K&R

[fasttense]

10. What brave religious leaders.

I wonder if our Protestant supposedly Christian leaders would lead a protest like this. I somehow doubt it.

[FiveGoodMen]

31. If THEIR asses were on the line? Not a fucking chance!

[druidity33]

11. k&r for the monks

And for people struggling against oppression everywhere!

[spinbaby]

12. BBC was reporting one dead this morning.

And several injured.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Burmese riot police attack monks

Source: BBC

Several thousand Burmese monks and other protesters have begun a new march in Rangoon despite a baton charge by police at the city's holiest shrine.

Police charged the crowd outside the Shwedagon Pagoda as demonstrators met for a ninth day of marching and warning shots were fired at another site.

The new march seems to be heading towards the home of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Police and troops are surrounding key Buddhist sites around the city.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7013638.stm

[Tunkamerica]

14. well they said it was only a matter of time till the military showed it's true brutal colors

unfortunately they were right

[Greeby]

15. and so it begins

:(

[OregonBlue]

16. I don't know how much longer the Burmese people will bow to the will of these

thugs. It is such a wonderful country with so many natural resources and yet this junta continues to rape and pillage the country for their own profit. I am afraid they will once again crack down hard. When will the other countries in the region finally say enough is enough and stop participating in this travesty. These guys are exporting the oil, the teak, the gems, etc. and other countries are continuing to buy with a wink, wink, nod, nod, while they know the money is going into the pockets of the generals and the military.

The local people can only buy enough petrol to go from one town to another and then only with the permission of the government. They are forced to stop and show their papers every 40-50 miles. They are forced to labor to build roads by hand and even kidnapped and taken to the middle of the country to build a new city for the rulers who are afraid of the citizens.

It really is horrible and it needs to end. How much longer will the other Buddhist nations ignore it? It's not up to the U.S., it's up to ASEAN to finally put a stop to this repression!

[oberliner]

17. Myanmar security forces haul away monks

Source: AP

YANGON, Myanmar - Security forces fired warning shots and tear gas canisters while hauling Buddhist monks away in trucks Wednesday as authorities tried to stop anti-government demonstrations, the first mass arrests since protests erupted last month.

About 300 monks and activists were arrested across Yangon, according to an exile dissident group, and reporters saw a number of monks — who are highly revered in Myanmar — being dragged into trucks.

The junta had banned all public gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nighttime curfew following eight days of anti-government marches led by monks in Yangon and other areas of the country, including the biggest protests in nearly two decades.

A march toward the center of Yangon followed a tense confrontation at the city's famed Shwedagon Pagoda between the protesters and riot police who fired warning shots into the air, beat some monks and dragged others away into waiting trucks.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_re_as/myanmar;_ylt=AnW5gNrbRiwPF.kzNJTYGOSs0NUE

[shenmue]

18. Stop all that praying for peace and stuff!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

:puke:

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

It's dangerous! :crazy:

[rodeodance]

20. its coming to a head.

[rodeodance]

19. Kyi was under house arrest but I read they transferred her to a prison now.

[uppityperson]

29. Back to prison, again. I hope she gets out soon, survives her time there

[Andre II]

21. Burmese forces shoot at protest

Source: Le Monde

"Les forces birmanes ont tiré "sur des manifestants" et "on peut être certain que le sang a coulé", a affirmé, mercredi 26 septembre, un diplomate français en poste à Rangoun, Emmanuel Mouriez, interrogé depuis Paris par RTL. "Des tirs ont eu lieu côté forces de l'ordre, d'abord en l'air puis sur les manifestants. On ne peut pas savoir s'il y a beaucoup de personnes blessées ou tuées mais on peut être certain que le sang a coulé", a déclaré M. Mouriez, premier conseiller à l'ambassade de France."On a plusieurs témoignages qui font état de personnes sur le carreau", a-t-il ajouté. Une personne est morte et cinq autres ont été blessées par balles à Rangoun alors que la police tentait de disperser les manifestants, a-t-on appris de source médicale. On ne sait pas si les victimes sont des moines ou des civils, ni les circonstances exactes de leurs blessures. Des milliers de Birmans manifestaient, mercredi matin, dans les rues de Rangoun malgré le déploiement de policiers et de soldats. Au moins dix-sept bonzes auraient été blessés par les forces de sécurité birmanes dans le quartier de la pagode Shwedagon à Rangoun, selon des témoins."

(Rough translation: A French diplomat confirmed that they are soohting at manifestation and one can be sure that there are some dead. No idea if victims are monks or civilians.)


The German "Der Spiegel" talks of five unconfirmed deaths.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,507997,00.html



So far no news in English speaking press.


Read more: http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3216,36-959582@51-947750,0.html

[Poll_Blind]

22. For Americans, read "crowd" or "protest" for "manifestaion" n/t

Thanks Andre!

PB

[Andre II]

24. Thanks for correction! n/t

[tekisui]

23. Reuters reporting at least one person killed by bullets.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSB58859920070926

[backscatter712]

25. Is it time for an insurrection yet?

When does it become time? When does a government get so corrupt, so tyrannical, so destructive, that it is worth fighting a war to destroy it?

For the Burmese, I say the time is now. Get some weapons, get some safehouses, and start fighting. There's nothing left to lose.

Find the prick in charge and hang him on a meathook like Mussolini.

[AngryAmish]

28. It is a totalitarian Communist government

They will do whatever it takes to stay in government.

[OregonBlue]

32. They are not Communists. They claim to be socialists but in fact, the are just

greedy bastards. They are selling all of the resources of the country at alarming rates and sinking the money into military hardware and personal bank accounts. The world NEEDS to freeze those accounts NOW. I have been to Burma many times, starting in 1972. The country is getting poorer and poorer. There are no services provided and the repression is horrific.

Communist make an attempt to provide for the citizens. These bastards don't provide anything. They just take. What roads, railroads, hospitals, etc. that are there were built by the British. They are poorly maintained and NOTHING new of benefit to the people has been added.

These guys are just dirty fascists posing as a government.

[ohio2007]

34. sanctions don't work

military force won't work either.
The monks fundamental uprising was the only political force in the country that had support of the population ( which is 80% Buhdist )
Maybe A South African Bishop can proclaim them an aparteid typ stigma on the military rulers.

btw,
which countries supply all the arms to this military run society of 'socialists' ?

[OregonBlue]

35. China supplies most of their arms. No sanctions won't work but freezing their vast offshore bank

accounts will. It is common knowledge in every government that these thugs have been selling off the country and transferring the money out of the country into private accounts. They have billions in private accounts all over the world.

[libnnc]

26. I listened to that report on Beeb World Service this morning

The announcer said that BBC has no access--no cell phone service etc.-- and they are getting their reports from emails. :scared:

What those monks have withstood thus far from the military thugs is incredible. Reports say everything short of firing into crowds.

I fear the worst is coming.

[AnneD]

27. I'm showing my age....

I read the title and envisioned the military putting fraternity pins on the monks robes and everyone was smiling at the happy occasion. :wtf:

It was not just a different time, but a different world.

[ohio2007]

33. turn out the light...the party's over

snip
overnight, they were beaten, shot and arrested, and locked in their monasteries. Handfuls of them emerged yesterday – two or three brave individuals, a dozen at most – but nothing to approach the mass marches of the previous nine days. Everyone felt their absence.


snip

The monks were moral shields; without them the marchers had lost a lucky charm. They felt less like crusaders for justice and more like what they resembled – scared, angry kids in T-shirts facing well-drilled troops with automatic weapons.

snip

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2545351.ece