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Blogger Niknayman has a list of names and affiliations of over 300 monks and civilians who have been arrested by the Myanmar Military Regime. Many are from the National League of Democracy, the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Newspapers across Asia are putting the number of detained people at 1500. Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norwegian organization reports that the number of arrested is much higher at over 2000. Death toll is rumoured to be in the hundreds, though the Myanmar Junta refuses to confirm the official number. Democratic Voice of Burma is quoting this announcement from Ko...

I’m sick and tired of all the hand-wringing and whining going on in the liberal media over the supposed “crisis” in Burma. Seriously, who cares? Let the Burmese worry about Burma, I always say. Here’s a typical example of the kind of biased reporting I’m talking about, from the Daily Mail: [T]he bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle … Well, yeah, duh. There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for that. Only the blood of monks can quench the thirst of the mighty teak tree. And teak is one of Burma's major exports, to make futons...

The country's top brass seem to have learned nothing from the contempt they drew from the international community for their conduct 19 years ago when Burmese generals put down the popular uprising in 1988. Then Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, as the country's army commander-in-chief, blithely headed a high-ranking delegation to Rangoon shortly after the junta's resort to violence left some 3,000 people dead, and sent hundreds of thousands seeking refuge in Thailand. The visit was tantamount to condoning a military dictatorship elsewhere decried for the excesses against demonstrators. The trade-off? Some kind of arrangement involving Burmese timber and fishery. Not long...

Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed. The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand." Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand....

Thousands dead in the massacre of the monksLast updated at 01:05am on 1st October 2007 Comments Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed. The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: 'Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.' Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered...

The US has banned dozens of members of Burma's military government from obtaining US travel visas because of ongoing violence against protesters. A state department spokesman said more officials would be added to the list if they were judged responsible for human rights abuses. Reports from Burma say military may have succeeded in limiting the scale of the protests in the main city, Rangoon.

Violent crackdown launched in Myanmar AP Security forces shot and wounded three people, and beat and dragged away dozens of Buddhist monks Wednesday in the most violent crackdown against the protests that began last month, witnesses said. About 300 monks and activists were arrested, dissidents said. Reports from exiled Myanmar journalists and activists in Thailand said security forces had shot and killed as many as five people in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. The reports could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press. The U.N. Security Council will meet later Wednesday to discuss Myanmar, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told...

The monks have vowed to continue their action Lorries with loudspeakers have been driving through Burma's main city of Rangoon warning residents to stop anti-government protests.The broadcasts threatened that "action will be taken against those who violate this order". But hundreds of monks and civilians defied the threats and began fresh protests at the Shwedagon pagoda. On Monday, there were protests in at least 25 towns, with tens of thousands of people marching in Rangoon. Several military trucks are now parked near Shwedagon pagoda, which has been the focus of the protests. Eyewitnesses said several hundred monks gathered at...

Burma's ruling military junta has warned it is ready to "take action" against Buddhist monks leading mounting protests, state media have reported. Brig Gen Thura Myint Maung, minister for religion, warned them not to break Buddhist "rules and regulations" as Rangoon saw the largest march yet. He blamed the protests on "destructive elements" opposed to peace in Burma. President George W Bush is set to announce fresh US sanctions on Burmese leaders, the White House says.

Myanmar protesters hit 100,000 mark As many as 100,000 anti-government protesters led by a phalanx of Buddhist monks marched Monday through Yangon, the largest crowd to demonstrate in Myanmar's biggest city since a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that was brutally crushed by the military. From the front of the march, witnesses could see a one-mile stretch of eight-lane road was filled with people. Some participants said there were several hundred thousand marchers in their ranks, but an international aid agency official with employees monitoring the crowd estimated said the size was well over 50,000 and approaching 100,000. It was the latest...

Thousands of monks and civilians are marching through Burma's former capital in what appears to be the biggest anti-government protest so far. Eyewitnesses said the number of people demonstrating on Monday was as high as 30,000. It follows Sunday's march in Rangoon by 20,000 monks and nuns, in what was the largest protest for almost 20 years. Events are now moving unpredictably, analysts say. So far the ruling generals are showing unusual restraint. Monks are revered in Burma and any action against them by the military government would spark an outcry. But there are fears of a repeat of 1988,...

20,000 march against Myanmar government About 20,000 people led by Buddhist monks demonstrated against Myanmar's military junta Sunday, in what has quickly become the largest anti-government demonstrations since the failed democratic uprising in 1988. The 10,000 monks marched from Yangon's famous Shwedagon Pagoda to the nearby Sule Pagoda before passing the U.S. Embassy, witnesses said. Monks shouted support for detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, while the crowd of 10,000 protected them by forming a human chain along the route. It was the sixth straight day monks have marched in Yangon, and came a day after they were allowed...

Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has greeted Buddhist monks protesting against the military junta. Apparently unable to hold her tears, Aung San Suu Kyi came out of the house she has been detained in since 2003 as the monks were let through a roadblock. At least 2,000 monks are staging a sixth day of protests through the streets of the main city of Rangoon. Up to 10,000 marched through Mandalay with protests also taking place in five townships across Burma. (snip) The area around University Avenue where Ms Suu Kyi's house is located has been closed to traffic...

10,000 protest against Myanmar gov't Myanmar police allowed a group of more than 500 Buddhist monks to march Saturday past the house where opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is detained, witnesses said, on a day that saw some of the largest protests since 1988. A monk said in a speech later to anti-government protesters that Suu Kyi came to her gate to greet them. His account could not immediately be confirmed. Suu Kyi has been under detention continuously since May 2003 at her Yangon home, and for 11 of the past 18 years. The monks stopped briefly in front...

Leaders of protests by Buddhist monks in Burma say they intend to continue their peaceful demonstrations until the military government collapses. The statement by the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks came as 1,500 monks took to the streets of Rangoon in their biggest protest yet. This is the fifth straight day of marches by monks in protest at recent government attempts to silence critics. Diplomats at the United Nations have expressed concern at the crisis. In a strongly-worded statement, seen by the BBC, the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks described the military government as "the enemy of the...

Hundreds of Buddhist monks have marched around Burma's most revered temple, in a third consecutive day of protests against the military government. The monks were allowed into the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon for the first time since their protests began. They walked through the city surrounded by a human chain of civilians holding hands to protect them. They want a government apology for the violent break-up of a recent rally, triggered by protests over price rises.

Thousands of Buddhist monks have protested in several Burmese cities in escalating protests against the military government. In the western port city of Sittwe, nearly 2,000 monks demanded the release of four monks arrested on Tuesday. About 1,000 monks marched through Mandalay, and several hundred more in Rangoon, the former capital.

Military officials in Burma have used tear gas to disperse hundreds of monks holding a rally in the north-west city of Sittwe, reports from the area say. Some of them were beaten and several were arrested, eyewitnesses say. Large numbers of monks have also held protests in at least five other towns and cities across the country, including the former capital Rangoon.

Many people in Burma have been surprised by the sheer persistence of the protests in recent weeks. In a country where the authorities show zero tolerance of even the slightest criticism, such public displays of defiance have not been seen for almost 20 years. These protests stem from a decision by the military government to suddenly raise the price of fuel by up to five times on 15 August. Transport fares rose and that triggered a sharp rise in the price of consumer goods, hitting poor people particularly hard. The generals must have hoped that the momentum of the demonstrations...

PATTANI, Thailand (Reuters) - A bomb hidden under a bench in front of a food shop killed one person and wounded 10 others in Thailand's Muslim south on Saturday, police said. The remote-controlled device exploded while Buddhist Thais were waiting to give food to monks in the town of Pattani in one of three southernmost provinces where more than 2,500 people have been killed in violence since 2004, police said. Two civilians were seriously wounded while the shop owner was killed, police said. Monks and the soldiers escorting them were also among the wounded. Nobody claims responsibility for the daily...