Asean in a rare rebuke to Burma

At least nine people were killed in Rangoon on Thursday in continuing clashes between the military and demonstrators, state television confirmed. The dead included eight protesters and a Japanese photo-journalist.

Asean foreign ministers issued a rare rebuke to Burma on Thursday, demanding the military junta immediately stop using violence against pro-democracy protesters.

"They were appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used and demanded that the (Burmese) government immediately desist from the use of violence against demonstrators," said Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, acting as spokesman for the group..

The ministers "expressed their revulsion to (Burmese) Foreign Minister Nyan Win over reports that the demonstrations in Myanmar are being suppressed by violent force and that there has been a number of fatalities," he said, using the regime's official name for Burma.

They strongly urged Burma to exercise restraint and seek a political solution and wanted the ruling junta to resume national reconciliation with all parties and work towards a peaceful transition to democracy.

The United States meanwhile enacted sanctions against 14 top officials in the Burmese ruling military regime - freezing their US-held assets - for the violent crackdown against democratic activists.

The move followed an appeal by US President George W Bush to Burmese security forces to reject the use of violence against the pro-democracy protestors challenging the repressive military regime.

"I urge the Burmese soldiers and police not to use force on their fellow citizens," Bush said in a statement.

In New York, a UN spokesman said the Burmese regime has agreed to receive a UN envoy dispatched to assess the crisis. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received assurance the military junta will cooperate with envoy Ibrahim Gambari, Marie Okabe said.

Gambari's trip is supported the UN Security Council, which met on Wednesday to discuss the situation, but was unable to take any measures until Gambari has reported on his findings with Rangoon.

The Oslo-based opposition radio station Democratic Voice of Burma said earlier that in Thursday's protests in Rangoon (Rangoon), thousands of ordinary people replaced demonstrating monks, many of whom were arrested in overnight raids after Wednesday's violent crackdown on peaceful protests.

Witness accounts received in Oslo said security forces had blocked off the monasteries. An estimated 10,000 people gathered at midday near the Sule Pagoda, a flashpoint for the past 10 days. After police issued a verbal warning and fired warning shots, the crowd scattered.

The Japanese photo-journalist was reportedly shot dead as he tried to get through a blockade of soldiers, the Democratic Voice of Burma radio station's daily news editor Htet Aung Kyaw told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a telephone interview.

Other victims were believed to include four monks who were beaten to death in connection with overnight raids on Rangoon monasteries, he said.

Barricades and troops were in place from morning at key sites in Rangoon, including the Shwedagon Pagoda and Bogyoke Street, two other rallying spots for the protests.

Many schools were closed as fearful residents kept their children at home.

The protests started at Sule Pagoda, where an estimated 10,000 laymen gathered to shout calls and clap their hands in a show of contempt for the government troops around the temple.

After police issued a verbal warning and fired warning shots, the crowds scattered. The Japanese photo-journalist was reportedly killed in the fire.

At the same place Thursday evening, police fired tear gas into a reassembled mob, chasing them away again. The Catholic Archbishop of Rangoon, Charles Bo, was among those tear-gassed.

"I fear a bloodbath," Bo told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa after fleeing to his home nearby. "But the people welcome an escalation of the violence so the situation will turn into something similar to East Timor, when the United Nations had to intervene."

He added that he had urged his parish to join the protests that have shook Rangoon since September 18.

Two senior leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested, including spokesman Myint Thin, he said.

There were displays of increasingly violent dissent and brutal reprisals throughout the city.

About 1,000 villagers in South Okkalapa township on the eastern outskirts of Rangoon attacked an army truck, pelting the soldiers on board with stones until they shot 10 tear gas canisters into the mob to make a getaway.

The villagers were reportedly outraged that the military had raided the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery early Thursday morning, arresting monks and leaving its revered abbot severely beaten.

Witnesses said a lieutenant-colonel leading three truckloads of soldiers in the raid beat some of his own soldiers when they refused to attack monks in the monastery.

Pitched battles followed between the soldiers and residents living near the monastery.

After dawn on Thursday, angry local residents gathered at the scene of the violence. Many of them were crying with rage.

"It is impossible to believe that the government would brutalize the holy monks," said one resident of the area who witnessed the melee. "The government is not doing this for stability. This is sacrilege to the religion we believe in."

A similar scene was witnessed later on Thursday at the intersection of Kyaikasan and Leydaungkan roads, in eastern Rangoon, where hundreds of people blocked the road and faced off with soldiers.

After firing warning shots, the soldiers attacked the protesters, loading hundreds on to five trucks that moved them to nearby Kyaikasan Grounds, a public park turned holding centre.

The protests continued Thursday evening, with reports that thousands of people were marching from Ahlone township to Kyimyiutine township in western Rangoon. It was feared that the military was planning more raids on monasteries Thursday night.

"There are people willing to shoot and people willing to die," said one Western diplomat of the ongoing showdown in Rangoon.

Demonstrations were also staged in Mandalay, the second largest city. Witness accounts suggested soldiers used a live electric power line to disperse crowds.

In Kachin State in northern Burma near the Chinese border two monasteries were raided Tuesday evening and some 400 monks arrested, the radio station's sources said.

The European Union said Thursday it was working on "targeted" sanctions against the military junta. EU envoys formed a working group to look into concrete suggestions for reinforced, targeted economic sanctions.

Irish rock star Bono, whose group U2 has written a song about Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has "appealed for prayers for the Burmese people."

In London, 50 people took part in a demonstration outside the embassy of Mynamar, organized by Amnesty International. Speakers condemned the crackdown and denounced the reluctance of China to put pressure on the ruling junta in Burma. (dpa)

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Earlier story:

Burmese kill foreign photographers

Rangoon - Burmese security forces on Thursday shot and killed a Japanese photographer and a German also believed to be a journalist, as thousands of laymen carried forward the anti-junta protest started by Buddhist monks.

Rangoon's streets, taken over by tens-of-thousands of marching monks in recent days, were replaced by angry but unarmed laymen after authorities cracked down on the clergy Wednesday and Thursday morning.

At midday an estimated 10,000 laymen gathered near the Sule Pagoda, a flashpoint for the past 10 days of protests, shouting catcalls and clapping their hands in a show of contempt for the government troops around the temple.

After police issued a verbal warning and fired warning shots, the crowds scattered. A male Caucasian foreigner, tentatively identified as a German photographer, was shot dead as he tried to make his way through a blockade of soldiers, eyewitnesses said.

A Japanese photo-journalist was also killed, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported. Burmese authorities reported the death to the Japanese embassy.

There were displays of increasingly violent dissent and brutal reprisals throughout the city.

About 1,000 villagers in South Okkalapa township on the eastern outskirts of Rangoon attacked an army truck, pelting the soldiers on board with stones until they shot 10 tear gas canisters into the mob to make a getaway.

The villagers were reportedly outraged that the military had raided the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery early Thursday morning, arresting monks and leaving its revered abbot severely beaten.

Witnesses said a lieutenant colonel leading three truckloads of soldiers in the raid beat some of his own soldiers when they refused to attack monks in the monastery.

Pitched battles followed between the soldiers and residents living near the monastery.

After dawn on Thursday, angry local residents gathered at the scene of the violence. Many of them were crying with rage.

"It is impossible to believe that the government would brutalize the holy monks," said one resident of the area who witnessed the melee. "The government is not doing this for stability. This is sacrilege to the religion we believe in."

A similar scene was witnessed later on Thursday at the intersection of Kyaikasan and Leydaungkan roads, in eastern Rangoon, where hundreds of people blocked the road and faced off with soldiers. After firing warning shots, the soldiers attacked the protesters, loading hundreds on to five trucks that moved them to nearby Kyaikasan Grounds, a public park turned holding centre.

The protests continued Thursday evening, with reports that thousands of people were marching from Ahlone township to Kyimyiutine township in western Rangoon.

"There are people willing to shoot and people willing to die," said one Western diplomat of the ongoing showdown in Rangoon.

Most monks stayed away from the day's protests, amid reports that authorities had raided several monasteries at around 2 am Thursday, arresting up to 100 monks.

The ruling junta cracked down Wednesday on monk-led marches that started small on September 18 and peaked Monday with an estimated 100,000 participants.

On Wednesday riot police and soldiers beat back monks and their laymen followers with batons and tear gas from the Shwedagon Pagoda and fired warning shots at the mob around the Sule Pagoda.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper claimed that the clash was sparked by protesters throwing stones at the security officers.

"On account of the unavoidable circumstances, the members of the security forces fired some shots employing the least force to disperse the mob," claimed the government mouthpiece.

It claimed one civilian was killed in the melee and two others wounded. Other sources said at least five people, including monks, died on Wednesday and more than 100 were injured.

Barricades and troops were in place Thursday morning at key sites in Rangoon, including the Shwedagon Pagoda and Bogyoke Street, two of the main rallying spots for the past nine days of protests in the city.

Many schools were closed as fearful residents kept their children at home.

Roadblocks had been removed Thursday from the Pagoda Road that leads to Sule Pagoda, but the temple was heavily guarded.

Burma's monks, said to number 400,000, have a long history of political activism. The monkhood played a pivotal role in Burma's independence struggle from Great Britain in 1947 and the anti-military demonstrations of 1988 that ended in bloodshed. (dpa)

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Earlier story:

Burma military arrests monks in midnight raids

Yangon - Burma's military regime rounded up more than a hundred monks in raids of Yangon temples after midnight and stationed hundreds of troops at key sites in the former capital in preparation for more protests Thursday.

Informed sources said authorities raided several temples early Thursday morning and rounded up an unknown number of monks in an effort to prevent more protest marches on Thursday.

Barricades and troops were in place Thursday morning at key sites in Rangoon, including the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas and Bogyoke Street, the main rallying spots for the past nine days of monk-led protests in the city.

The military finally cracked down on the monks' barefoot rebellion on Wednesday, beating back monks and their laymen followers from the Shwedagon and Sule pagoda and firing warning shots at the crowds, numbering in the thousands.

The government has claimed that only one person died in the melee and two were injured. Other sources said as many as five died, including monks, and more than 100 were injured.

It was still unclear Thursday morning whether the monks would take to the streets for a tenth day. Past protests have started about noon, after the monks have taken food and started their midday fast.

There have been reports of similar monk-led protests taking place in other Burma cities such as Mandalay and Sittwe.

Burma's monks, said to number 400,000, have a long history of political activism. The monkhood played a pivotal role in Burma's independence struggle from Great Britain in 1947 and the anti-military demonstrations of 1988, that ended in bloodshed. (dpa)

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-By Bangkok Post Agencies