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At least 9 killed in Myanmar protests
11 injured as soldiers fire on anti-government demonstrators
 Reuters A riot policeman charges at a crowd attempting to disperse after police and military officials fired upon protesters on the streets of Yangon on Thursday. |
YANGON, Myanmar - At least nine people, including a Japanese national, were killed and 11 injured Thursday as soldiers in Myanmar opened fire on thousands of anti-government protesters who defied a government crackdown, the government said.
Ye Htut, a government spokesman, said riot police clashed with anti-government protesters in the country's largest city Yangon, killing nine and injuring 11 people. Thirty-one government troops were also injured, he said.
A Japanese journalist covering the protests in Yangon for Japanese video news agency APF News was among those killed, a Japanese Embassy official in Myanmar told The Associated Press by telephone.
The chaos came a day after the government said clashes in Yangon killed at least one man. Dissidents outside Myanmar reported receiving news of up to eight deaths Wednesday.
Some reports said the dead included monks, who are widely revered in Myanmar, and the emergence of such martyr figures could stoke public anger against the regime and escalate the violence.
Witnesses told the AP that five men were arrested and severely beaten Thursday after soldiers fired into a crowd near a bridge across the Pazundaung River on the east side of downtown Yangon.
Shots were fired after several thousand protesters on the west side of the river ignored orders to disband.
‘Give us freedom, give us freedom!’
In other parts of the city, some protesters shouted “Give us freedom, give us freedom!” at soldiers. Thousands ran through the streets after warning shots were fired into crowds that had swollen to 70,000. Bloody sandals were left lying in the road.
Thursday’s protests followed early morning raids on Buddhist monasteries during which soldiers reportedly beat up monks and arrested more than 100.
The monks have spearheaded the largest challenge to the military junta in the isolated Southeast Asian nation since a failed uprising in 1988. In that crisis, soldiers shot into crowds of peaceful demonstrators, killing some 3,000 people.
As the stiffest challenge to the generals in two decades, the crisis that began Aug. 19 with protests over a fuel price hike has drawn increasing international pressure on the regime, especially from its chief economic and diplomatic ally, China.
“China hopes that all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Thursday at a twice-weekly media briefing.
‘Committed to showing restraint’
The junta, the latest incarnation of a series of military regimes, sent in the troops despite desperate international calls for restraint.
It told diplomats summoned to its new jungle capital, Naypyidaw, “the government was committed to showing restraint in its response to the provocations,” one of those present said.
But international anger mounted sharply, despite the junta’s long track record of ignoring the outside world. The generals have managed to live with tough sanctions from the United States and lesser ones from Europe for a decade.
Even China, the closest the isolated junta has to a friend, said it was “extremely concerned about the situation in Myanmar.” The Foreign Ministry urged all parties to “maintain restraint and appropriately handle the problems that have arisen.”
The White House demanded an end to the crackdown, and the European Union said it was looking urgently into reinforcing sanctions in response to the crackdown, which has already drawn more sanctions from the United States.
‘The regime has reacted brutally’
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a “tragedy” and urged the generals to allow a U.N. envoy to visit and meet detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The regime has reacted brutally to people who were simply protesting peacefully,” Rice said during the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would dispatch special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Southeast Asia in the hope the generals would let him in. U.N. sources said Gambari was heading to Singapore to try to get a visa.
However, in a sign of rifts within the international community at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, China ruled out sanctions or an official condemnation of the use of force.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21003194/
Q&A: Backgrounder on Myanmar protests
The largest anti-government demonstrations in nearly two decades have thrust Myanmar into the international spotlight, but for many the core issues remain murky. Here are answers to some common questions:
What are the protests about?
The military government’s decision in August to hike fuel prices by more than double was the immediate cause of the Myanmar protests. The rallies initially were organized by pro-democracy activists, but Buddhist monks became involved after military authorities forcibly broke up a peaceful protest in early September.
Who governs Myanmar?
The military has dominated the government for nearly half a century, but the generals have ruled with nearly absolute power since 1990, when the junta refused to hand over power after the main opposition party’s landslide electoral victory. President Bush has announced tighter new U.S. economic sanctions against Myanmar in addition to a pre-existing arms ban, a ban on exports, investment and financial services.
Who are the monks leading the protests?
The Buddhist clergy historically has been politically influential in Myanmar, nearly 90 percent of which is Buddhist. The 400,000-500,000 Buddhist monks have wielded considerable spiritual and political clout among the citizens for centuries. The government has tried to win the support of senior clergy, with mixed success at best. The monks have been called Myanmar’s “saffron army.”
Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, is the leader of Myanmar’s most prominent opposition group, the National League for Democracy, and the recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She has spent more than 11 of the past 18 years under some form of arrest under the country’s military regime. Her followers and other pro-democracy activists in the country are routinely harassed and imprisoned.
Is the country called Myanmar or Burma?
Both. The military regime changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989 after suppressing a popular uprising. The United Nations, France and Japan all accept the name Myanmar. But others, including Britain — the country’s former colonial ruler — and the United States, continue to use the name Burma under the rationale that the ruling junta has no democratic mandate. News organizations also differ: the British Broadcasting Corp. uses Burma, but The Associated Press and msnbc.com use Myanmar.
To which branch of Buddhism do the monks adhere?
The Buddhists of Myanmar observe the Theravada school, which is typically found in south and southeast Asia. The Theravada school focuses on personal liberation from craving and suffering.
Where and how big is Myanmar?
Myanmar is located in south-southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh borders Myanmar to the west, China to the north and west, and Laos and Thailand to the east. It is around 421,000 square miles, or slightly smaller than the state of Texas. Nearly 50 million people live in the country.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20993584/