BurmaNet News, September 28, 2007

[Editor]

September 28, 2007 Issue # 3304

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Speculation over possible confrontation among Burmese generals
Reuters: Myanmar crowds taunt troops as crackdown draws outrage
New York Times: With monks contained, Myanmar authorities attack civilians
DVB: Protests continue in Rangoon amid ongoing crackdowns
AP: Myanmar junta declares no-go zones at Buddhist monasteries seen as
flashpoints of protests
RFA and BMA: Internet disconnected, newspapers closed and foreign
journalists under surveillance as junta tries to seal off Burma
Irrawaddy: KNU call on ethnic ceasefire groups to support uprising
AP: Myanmar breaks up rallies, cuts internet
Financial Times: Burma’s battle with the blogs
Wall Street Journal Online: Citizen Journalists' evade blackout on Myanmar
news
Free Burma Ranger: Message of solidarity from the people of Shan state

ASEAN
The Nation: Asean demands Burmese junta to stop crackdown

REGIONAL
AP: China, Japan to cooperate on solution to Myanmar crisis amid
international outcry
AP: China, refusing to condemn Myanmar, pleads for calm
The Nations: Family of Burma's super boss are in Laos - reports
AFP: Myanmar must release Aung San Suu Kyi: Philippines
The Hindu: Gujral crticises Govt's response to events in Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
DPA: UN envoy to begin Myanmar trip Saturday as world condemns junta
Irrawaddy: International Pressure Building on Burma
AFP: Facebookers assail Myanmar junta
Japan Economic: U.S. Senate resolution to urge China, Japan to act on Myanmar
AFP: British PM says Myanmar violence 'must cease'
DPA: ANALYSIS: Crisis highlights world's failed diplomacy in Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima News: Dharma war - Tun Tun Naing
Wall Street Journal Online: A message from Mandalay - Leslie Hook
Independent (London): The West must confront Burma's supporters - Pascal
Khoo-Thwe
Washington Post: Burma's revolt of the spirit -  Michael Gerson

PRESS RELEASE
Conservatives: Crabb: British Government must take action for Burma

STATEMENT
The Club of Madrid: Statement of the Club of Madrid regarding the
situation in Myanmar
Statement from Japanese concerned Buddhists
PWV Burma: Towards democracy, peace and national unification

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 28, Mizzima News
Speculation over possible confrontation among Burmese generals: Troops
marching to Rangoon Burmese Air Force planes airborne

Top two in junta divided

"Maung Aye and his loyalists are opposed to shooting into the crowd," a
source close to the military hierarchy told Mizzima referring to the major
differences that the head of junta Senior General Than Shwe and his
second-in-command, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye have over the brutal
crack down on protesters in Burma.

Burmese Air Force planes airborne

Military aircrafts from the Matehtilar airbase are airborne. It is not
known why the aircrafts have scrambled. On the other hand there is
commotion in the Light Infantry Division 33 and 99 of the Burma Army. The
exact nature of the commotion cannot be determined as yet.

Troops marching to Rangoon

There is an urgent report that Burmese troops from middle Burma has
started to march towards Rangoon. The reported troops are from Central
Command based in Taung Oo and South East Command. At this reporting, it is
not clear if the troops are marching to reinforce or to challenge the
troops in Rangoon for shooting the Buddhist monks.

____________________________________

September 28, Reuters
Myanmar crowds taunt troops as crackdown draws outrage - Aung Hla Tun

Crowds taunted soldiers and police who barricaded central Yangon on Friday
to prevent more mass protests against Myanmar's 45 years of military rule
and deepening economic hardship.

Potentially deadly games of cat and mouse went on for hours around the
barbed-wire barriers in a city terrified of a repeat of 1988, when the
army killed an estimated 3,000 people in its ruthless crushing of an
uprising.

Few monks were among the crowds taunting and cursing the soldiers. When
the troops charged, the protesters vanished into narrow side streets, only
to emerge elsewhere to renew their abuse until darkness fell and an
overnight curfew loomed.

"Fuck you, army. We only want democracy," some yelled in English. Despite
the visceral anger in their voices, far fewer protesters turned out in
Yangon than earlier in the week.

"May the people who beat monks be struck down by lightning," others
chanted in Burmese a day after soldiers ransacked 10 monasteries and
carted off hundreds of the monks who filled five city blocks with their
supporters on Monday and Tuesday.

There has been no word on the fate of the detained monks who turned what
started as small protests against shock fuel price rises last month into a
mass uprising when they lent their huge moral weight to demonstrations
against the junta.

However, one monk pumped his fists in defiance at soldiers as a group of
protesters carried him above their heads on Friday.

Other monks told foreign Burmese-language broadcasters they were not going
to give up. Speaking anonymously, they said a "united front" of clergy,
students and activists had been formed to continue the struggle.

Several shots were fired on Friday, but there was no word of more
casualties a day after troops swept protesters out of the city centre,
giving them 10 minutes to leave or be shot. The soldiers then pursued
knots of demonstrators through the city.

Troops fired on several crowds on Thursday and state-run television
admitted nine people were killed. Australian Ambassador Bob Davis told
domestic radio that figure should multiplied several times to get the real
toll.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said eight people were
shot dead in a single incident in the northeastern Yangon district of
South Okkalapa that day.

Loudspeaker trucks toured South Okkalapa on Friday, announcing a four-hour
extension in the area to the curfew imposed on Yangon and the second city
of Mandalay on Tuesday.

INTERNATIONAL FURY

One of those killed on Thursday was Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai,
50, shot point-blank -- according to video footage -- when soldiers
charged crowds near Sule Pagoda, focus of more than a week of protests and
now deep inside the sealed off area.

Japan said it would send an envoy to Myanmar at the weekend to investigate
the killing.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda also said he had spoken with Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao by telephone. He said Wen had assured him Beijing, Myanmar's
closest ally, would seek to exercise its influence over the military
junta.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), one of the few
international groupings to have Myanmar as a member, went much further.

ASEAN, which works by consensus and hardly ever criticizes a member
directly, expressed "revulsion" at the crackdown.

But the junta usually ignores outside pressure and appeared to have cut
off public access to the Internet, through which much of news about their
bloody crackdown in the isolated country reached the rest of the world.

There were protests across Asia, with many people wearing red to symbolize
the blood split in the former Burma.

"Junta, go to hell!" yelled some of the 2,000 protesters in Kuala Lumpur.
In Canberra, anger boiled over and about 100 people tried to charge the
Myanmar embassy. In Jakarta, 50 Foreign Ministry officials in red shirts
observed a period of silence.

There were also protests in Manila, Phnom Penh and Thailand, home to one
million refugees and migrant workers from Myanmar.

In one small concession, the junta agreed to admit U.N. special envoy
Ibrahim Gambari and diplomatic sources in Yangon said he was expected to
arrive from Singapore on Saturday.

The White House said U.S. President George W. Bush had thanked China for
helping win consent to the visit by Gambari, charged with pressing for an
end to the crackdown.

The junta told diplomats summoned to its new jungle capital, Naypyidaw,
that it was "committed to showing restraint in its response to the
provocations", one of those present said.

____________________________________

September 28, New York Times
With monks contained, Myanmar authorities attack civilians - Seth Mydans

There was more shooting and tear gas on the streets of  Myanmar’s main
city of Yangon today, but authorities appeared to have succeeded for the
moment in containing the demonstrations by monks and were now confronting
and attacking smaller groups of civilians around the city.

Diplomats said columns of troops were chasing protesters, beating some and
taking some away in trucks. One diplomat called the confrontations “all
very small scale.”

Exile groups and human rights organizations who are in touch with people
inside Myanmar said they had less news today than before about clashes,
partly because of an apparent clampdown by authorities on Internet and
telephone communications.

Diplomats said there was no way to know the toll of dead and injured in
three days of clashes, but that it was undoubtedly higher than the deaths
reported by the junta. State television in Myanmar reported on Thursday
that nine people had been  killed and that 11 demonstrators and 31
soldiers had been wounded.

But Australian Ambassador Bob Davis told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
radio that should be multiplied several times to get the real figure,
according to Reuters.

The military junta has been trying to crush a wave of nationwide protests
in the face of harsh international condemnation.

On Thursday, the violence began with raids on Buddhist monasteries and
continued through the day with tear gas, beatings and volleys of gunfire
in the streets of Yangon, according to witnesses and news agency reports
from inside the closed nation.

Witnesses said soldiers fired automatic weapons into a crowd of protesters.

The Japanese Embassy said one of the dead was a Japanese photographer,
Kenji Nagai. International pressure on Myanmar built when President Bush
asked countries in the region with influence on Myanmar’s authorities to
urge them to cease using force, and the Treasury Department on Thursday
imposed economic sanctions on 14 identified senior Myanmar government
officials.

China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, at the White House for a scheduled
meeting on Thursday with the national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley,
soon found himself in an impromptu Oval Office session with the president.
Mr. Bush urged Mr. Yang to have Beijing “use its influence” in Myanmar to
facilitate a peaceful transition to democracy, said the White House
spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe.

As Myanmar’s chief international patron, China blocked an effort on
Wednesday by the United States and European countries to have the Security
Council condemn the violent crackdown. On Thursday, while not going as far
as Mr. Bush might have wished, China added its voice to criticism from
abroad when it publicly called for restraint.

“As a neighbor, China is extremely concerned about the situation in
Myanmar,” the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said at a news
briefing in Beijing. “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.”

The violence of the past several days has answered the question of whether
the military would fire on Buddhist monks, the highly revered moral core
of Burmese society. For the past 10 days, the monks have led
demonstrations that grew to as many as 100,000 before the crackdown began.

“The military is the one who proudly claims to preserve and protect
Buddhism in the country, but now they are killing the monks,” said Aung
Zaw, editor of The Irrawaddy, a magazine based in Thailand that has
extensive contacts inside Myanmar.

Like others monitoring the crisis, which began on Aug. 19 with scattered
protests against steep fuel price increases, he said it was difficult to
learn the numbers of dead in a chaotic situation in which hospital sources
are sometimes reluctant to talk. Mr. Aung Zaw said he had been told of one
death on Thursday when soldiers attacked two columns of monks and other
people.

“The military trucks, I was told, just drove in, and soldiers jumped out
and started shooting,” he said, describing a scene that was reminiscent of
the mass killings in 1988, when the current junta came to power after
suppressing a similar peaceful public uprising.

The Treasury Department included Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who leads the
junta in power in the country, in the list of officials on whom it will
impose sanctions. The measures will freeze any assets that the officials
hold within the United States and prohibit Americans from transacting or
doing business with them.

The foreign ministers of Myanmar’s regional group, the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, issued a strongly worded statement on Thursday
saying they were “appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being
used” against demonstrators.

The statement said that at a morning meeting at the United Nations, the
officials from the 10-nation group had “expressed their revulsion”
directly to Myanmar’s foreign minister, U Nyan Win, “over reports that the
demonstrations in Myanmar are being suppressed by violent force and that
there has been a number of fatalities.”

The foreign ministers of Asean are at the United Nations for the opening
of the General Assembly, and George Yeo, the foreign minister of
Singapore, the chairman country, put out their statement.

It said Mr. Nyan Win had given them assurances that Ibrahim Gambari, the
special envoy whom Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent Wednesday evening on
an urgent mission to Myanmar, would be given a visa to enter the country
once he arrived in Singapore. The statement said Myanmar should cooperate
fully with Mr. Gambari and give him access to all parties.

“Mr. Gambari’s role as a neutral interlocutor among all the parties can
help defuse the dangerous situation,” it read.

The statement called upon Myanmar to “resume its efforts at national
reconciliation with all parties concerned and work towards a peaceful
transition to democracy.”

It also called for the release of all political detainees, including Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader who has been held under house
arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

Superstitious Burmese had predicted violence on this date, whose digits
add up repeatedly to the astrologically powerful number 9: the 27th day of
the ninth month in 2007.

There was no indication that international pressure would have any more
effect on the junta than it has had over two decades of political pressure
or economic sanctions like those announced at the United Nations this week
by Mr. Bush.

“The big missing piece of the puzzle is what is going on in the minds of
the senior leadership,” said Thant Myint-U, a former United Nations
official who is the author of a book on Myanmar, formerly Burma, called
“River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma.”

“Nothing that they have said in the last 20 years would suggest that they
will back down,” he said

The government’s actions in the past two days seemed to bear this out.

In the raids early Thursday, The Associated Press reported, security
forces fired shots at one of several monasteries, Ngwe Kyar Yan, where one
monk said a number of monks were beaten and at least 70 of its 150 monks
were arrested.

A female lay disciple said a number of monks were arrested at Moe Gaung
Monastery, which was being guarded, like a number of other monasteries, by
a contingent of armed security personnel.

Other unconfirmed reports from exile groups described scenes of brutality
and humiliation of monks and their superiors when soldiers entered the
monasteries.

“We were told by a lot of residents that the soldiers came in very rudely
and told them to kneel down,” Mr. Aung Zaw said. “Their senior abbot was
beaten in front of the others. They were told to walk like dogs. That news
quickly spread, and whether it is rumor or true, people got very, very
angry.”

Reporting was contributed by Steven Lee Myers from Washington, and by
Warren Hoge, Graham Bowley and Christine Hauser from New York.

____________________________________

September 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Protests continue in Rangoon amid ongoing crackdowns

Soldiers have used slingshots to disperse demonstrations in Rangoon today,
which have been less organised than on previous days.

Chants from the protestors have taken on a different tone from earlier
messages of goodwill, with protestors calling for lightning to strike and
kill those who had attacked monks.

“Before they were chanting metta, but now they are cursing the soldiers,”
said a local resident.

Troops were deployed at the corner of Sule pagoda road and Anawrahta road
where shootings took place yesterday, about six blocks away from the
Pansodan junction with Anawrahta road where more than 10,000 people were
protesting.

Another group of 5,000-10,000 protestors assembled at around 3.30pm in the
Chinatown area at the junction of Strand road and Keile road, also cursing
government security forces. No government troops, guards or supporters
were seen at this location.

“It’s like they’re trying not to upset the Chinese. We’ve seen an army
truck passing by Chinatown, but no troops have been deployed,” said a
Rangoon resident.

The group moved on towards Sule pagoda road but was broken up at around
4pm by government troops from battalion 66 firing slingshots at them.

Four army trucks were seen, one with a loudspeaker urging residents not to
provide refuge to protestors and ordering them to refrain from firing
slingshots at security forces from their homes. The announcements
threatened action against anyone sheltering protestors.

There have also been reports that warning shots were fired at
demonstrations at Theingyizay market, but these were not said to have been
aimed directly into the crowds.

____________________________________

September 28, Associated Press
Myanmar junta declares no-go zones at Buddhist monasteries seen as
flashpoints of protests

Myanmar's military rulers declared no-go zones around five key Buddhist
monasteries to quash anti-government demonstrations led by monks, after
two days of violent crackdown on the protests killed 10 people, diplomats
said Friday.

A Japanese journalist was among the nine people killed Thursday when
security forces opened fire on groups of protesters in the streets of
Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, and one person shot and killed Wednesday.

Hundreds of people have been arrested since the junta began cracking down
on the demonstrations by tens of thousands of monks and activists, which
represent the stiffest challenge to the country's military rulers in two
decades.

The protests began Aug. 19 over a fuel price hike, then expanded
dramatically when monks came out in support of the protests.

Authorities called in Southeast Asian diplomats Thursday to inform them of
the "danger zones" around five Buddhist shrines, including the key protest
sites at the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas in Yangon, one of the diplomats
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of embassy rules.

The diplomat said regime members told the envoys that security forces had
the monks "under control" and would now turn their attention to civilian
protesters.

Given the reverence with which Buddhist clergy are held in Myanmar, any
confrontations with civilian demonstrators might be expected to be
tougher.

On Thursday, truckloads of troops in riot gear raided Buddhist monasteries
on the outskirts of Yangon, beating and arresting dozens of monks,
witnesses and Western diplomats said.

"I really hate the government. They arrest the monks while they are
sleeping," said a 30-year-old service worker who witnessed the
confrontations from his workplace. "These monks haven't done anything
except meditating and praying and helping people."

Images of bloodied protesters and fleeing crowds have riveted world
attention on the escalating crisis and prompted the United Nations and
many governments to urge the junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to end
the violence.

The United States, which imposed new sanctions Thursday on Myanmar's
military leaders, called on them to open a dialogue with the protesters
and urged China, Myanmar's main economic and political ally, to use its
influence to prevent further bloodshed.

"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand
their freedom, and the American people stand in solidarity with these
brave individuals," U.S. President George W. Bush said in Washington.

Ignoring the international appeals for restraint, Myanmar troops Thursday
fired into packs of protesters in at least four locations in Yangon,
witnesses and a Western diplomat said.

Protesters some shouting "Give Us Freedom" dodged road blocks and raced
down alleyways in a defiant game of cat and mouse with soldiers and riot
police that went on for most of the day.

At its height, some 70,000 protesters were on the streets, though the
total was difficult to estimate as groups broke up and later reformed.

In a brave challenge, one bare-chested man emerged from a crowd to advance
toward riot police, to be felled by what appeared to be a rubber bullet,
beaten, and hauled away.

Some of the day's most striking photographs showed a gunshot victim
identified as the dead Japanese journalist lying in the street, camera
still in hand, after two or three bursts of gunfire sent protesters
running.

State radio said security forces fatally shot nine people, including a
Japanese citizen, and wounded 11 people.

A Japanese Embassy official in Myanmar told The Associated Press that a
Japanese journalist later identified as Kenji Nagai, 50 covering the
protests for Japanese video news agency APF News was among those killed.

Japan's new Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters in Washington
his country plans to lodge a protest with Myanmar's junta over Nagai's
death.

Early Friday, security personnel took a Myanmar journalist working for a
Japanese media organization away from his home for what they said was
temporary questioning.

Every other time the regime has been challenged, it has responded with
force including in 1988 when it gunned down as many as 3,000 pro-democracy
protesters.

"Judging from the nature and habit of the Myanmar military, they will not
allow the monks or activists to topple them," says Chaiyachoke
Julsiriwong, a Myanmar scholar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

____________________________________

September 28, Reporters Without Borders/ Reporters sans frontières and
Burma Media Association
Internet disconnected, newspapers closed and foreign journalists under
surveillance as junta tries to seal off Burma

As the military junta continues its crackdown on pro-democracy protests,
it has stepped up its strategy of isolating Burma, trying to reproduce the
scenario of the 1988 massacres when witness accounts of the bloodshed only
reached the outside world after it was over.

"There is an urgent need to help Burmese and foreign journalists to
continue to do their job of reporting the news," Reporters Without Borders
and the Burma Media Association said. "This is a criminal regime, as the
Japanese photographer's murder has shown, and it is trying by all possible
means to create a situation of complete isolation."

The two organisations added: "The repression, with its dozens of deaths
and hundreds if not thousands of arrests, is gaining pace, but the flow of
news and information is drying up. The international community must take
action to prevent this news blackout."

The government disconnected the Internet at 11 a.m. today, adding to the
country's isolation. The leading ISP, an offshoot of the ministry of
technologies, tried to blame it on a technical problem with an underwater
cable. Reuters said no one was answering the phone at the ISP's
headquarters. Everyone questioned by Reporters Without Borders and the BMA
described the official excuse as "ridiculous."

All the Internet cafés are closed and the military are hounding the
foreign journalists still working on the ground. At least one was forced
to take refuge in an embassy or go underground.

The flow of news has slowed right down in the past two days. The
international video news exchange system EVN has hardly any new footage
for international TV stations.

Journalists in Rangoon said it was virtually impossible go to the centre
of the city. Some said they had seen more arrests and more violence
against civilians. According to these accounts, there are still many
groups of demonstrators.

It has meanwhile been confirmed that several Burmese publications,
including those owned by the Eleven Media and Pyi Myanmar press groups,
have closed after refusing to publish propaganda articles. Editors said
the public would not be interested in buying their publications if they
could not read about the demonstrations. Reporters Without Borders and the
BMA hail their courage in resisting the regime's dictates.

The English-language Myanmar Times, which is run by an Australian, appears
to have decided to continue publishing. Its website shows a picture of a
photographer in a peaceful rural setting and makes no mention of the
demonstrations or the use of violence to disperse them.

Although banned, many residents used satellite dishes to watch
international TV stations. "Everyone is tuned to the Burmese-language
international radio stations and the foreign TV stations," said a
journalist in Rangoon. "That is why the regime's media have attacked these
international radio stations. It is disgraceful." Government news media
such MRTV-3 have called the BBC and VOA "destructionist" and say they are
in the pay of foreign powers.
____________________________________

September 28, Irrawaddy
KNU call on ethnic ceasefire groups to support uprising - Sai Silp

Burma’s Karen National Union has issued a call for all ethnic ceasefire
groups to rise up against the Burmese regime in solidarity with the people
of Rangoon and Mandalay.

The Shan State Army-South, whose forces are defending areas of
southeastern Burma against the Burmese army, has also voiced its support
for monks and other protesters resisting regime efforts to stamp out the
rising opposition to its rule.

The KNU, in a statement issued on Thursday from its headquarters in
Kawthoole, called on government troops to turn their guns on the ruling
generals.

“We again earnestly urge you, the armed forces, to stop shooting and
killing the people and the Sanghas, and stand on the side of the people
and the Sanghas by turning your gun barrels against the SPDC generals, who
are making you commit heinous crimes so that they may remain in power,”
the statement said.

The KNU urged all the ethnic ceasefire groups to join forces with the
monks and the people, and unite in revolt against the military
dictatorship. It appealed to
the UN and all countries valuing freedom, justice and peace not to look on
with folded hands, and to take action to stop the bloodshed.

A source in Mae Hong Son on the Thai–Burmese border said leaders of ethnic
armed groups had met on Wednesday at the Shan State Army base at Loi Tai
Lang, near the Thai border.

SSA-South leader Gen Yawdserk told a Thai language newspaper in an
interview published on Thursday that his forces and those of allied ethnic
groups were ready to defend monks or other protesters in their areas if
they were attacked by government forces.

The SSA-South wanted to win no benefit for itself from the events in
Rangoon and elsewhere, he said. “The demonstrations by the Sangha are
different from our [actions] calling for independence and democracy.”

Meanwhile, Thailand’s National Security Council is preparing seven areas
near the border to accommodate any refugees from Burma, while increasing
surveillance on the movement of armed ethnic groups. Each area could
receive between 2,000 and 3,000 people, it said.

____________________________________

September 28, Associated Press
Myanmar breaks up rallies, cuts internet

Soldiers clubbed activists in the streets and fired warning shots Friday,
moving decisively to break up demonstrations in Myanmar before they could
gain momentum. Troops occupied Buddhist monasteries and cut public
Internet access, raising concerns that the crackdown on civilians that has
killed at least 10 people was set to intensify.

Troops also fired tear gas to break up a demonstration of about 2,000
people in the largest city, Yangon, witnesses said. Five protesters were
seen being dragged into a truck and driven away. The clash in an area near
the Sule Pagoda was the most serious of the several sporadic though
smaller protests that were reported.

By sealing monasteries, the government seemed intent on clearing the
streets of monks, who have spearheaded the demonstrations and are revered
by most of their Myanmar countrymen. This could embolden troops to crack
down harder on remaining civilian protesters.

Efforts to squelch the demonstrations appeared to be working. Daily
protests drawing tens of thousands of people had grown into the stiffest
challenge to the ruling military junta in two decades, a crisis that began
Aug. 19 with rallies against a fuel price increase, then escalated
dramatically when monks joined in.

Security forces first moved against the anti-government protesters on
Wednesday, when the first of the 10 deaths was reported. Images of
bloodied protesters and fleeing crowds have riveted world attention on the
escalating crisis, prompting many governments to urge the junta in
Myanmar, also known as Burma, to end the violence.

The United States imposed new sanctions on the junta's leaders, and the
United Nations dispatched a special envoy, who is expected to arrive
Saturday.

Earlier Friday, soldiers and riot police moved quickly to disperse a crowd
of 300 that started marching in Yangon, sealing the surrounding
neighborhood and ordering them to disperse. Elsewhere, they fired warning
shots to scatter a group of 200.

Bob Davis, Australia's ambassador to Myanmar, said he had heard
unconfirmed reports that "several multiples of the 10 acknowledged by the
authorities" may have been killed by troops in Yangon. Scores have been
arrested, carted away in trucks at night or pummeled with batons in recent
days, witnesses and diplomats said, with the junta ignoring all
international appeals for restraint.

"The military was out in force before they even gathered and moved quickly
as small groups appeared breaking them up with gunfire, tear gas and
clubs," said Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar.

"It's tragic. These were peaceful demonstrators, very well behaved."

British Ambassador Mark Canning told BBC-TV that "there have been a lot of
arrests," with up to 50 people detained at one time.

Video emerged of a striking image the shooting death Thursday of a man
identified as Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai of the video agency APF
News.

The Democratic Voice of Burma released video of security forces opening
fire on protesters, including a man falling forward after apparently being
shot at point-blank range, and the opposition shortwave radio station
based in Norway said the victim was Nagai, 50.

Another image posted on the Web site of Japanese TV network Fuji showed
Nagai lying in the street, camera still in hand, with a soldier pointing
his rifle down at him.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed "revulsion" at the
violence in Myanmar and told the junta "to exercise utmost restraint and
seek a political solution." Demonstrations against the junta were seen in
Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and elsewhere.

But by Myanmar standards, the crackdown has so far been muted, in part
because the regime knows that killing monks could trigger a maelstrom of
fury.

Southeast Asian envoys were told by Myanmar authorities Friday that a
no-go zone had been declared around five key Buddhist monasteries, one
diplomat said, raising fears of a repeat of 1988, when troops gunned down
thousands of peaceful demonstrators and imprisoned the survivors.

Gates were locked and key intersections near monasteries in Yangon and the
second-largest city of Mandalay were sealed off with barbed wire, and
there was no sign of monks in the streets.

"We were told security forces had the monks under control" and will now
turn their attention to civilian protesters, the Asian diplomat said on
condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

The government's apparent decision to cut public Internet access which has
played a crucial role in getting news and images of the pro-democracy
protests to the outside world also raised concerns.

Thursday was the most violent day in more than a month of protests which
at their height have brought an estimated 70,000 demonstrators to the
streets. Bloody sandals lay scattered on some streets as protesters fled
shouting "Give us freedom, give us freedom!"

Truckloads of troops in riot gear also raided Buddhist monasteries on the
outskirts of Yangon, beating and arresting dozens of monks, witnesses and
Western diplomats said.

"I really hate the government. They arrest the monks while they are
sleeping," said a 30-year-old service worker who saw some of the
confrontations from his workplace. "These monks haven't done anything
except meditating and praying and helping people."

The United Nations' special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, was heading
to the country to promote a political solution and could arrive as early
as Saturday, one Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Though some analysts said negotiations were unlikely, the diplomat said
the decision to let Gambari in "means they may see a role for him and the
United Nations in mediating dialogue with the opposition and its leaders."

The protesters won support from countrymen abroad as more than 2,000
Myanmar immigrants rallied peacefully in Malaysia and smaller
demonstrations against the junta took place in Thailand, Indonesia, Japan
and the Philippines.

China, Myanmar's largest trading partner, for months quietly counseled the
regime to speed up its long-stalled political reforms. Some analysts say
Beijing would hate to be viewed as party to a bloodbath as it prepares to
welcome the world to the 2008 Olympics.

"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," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang
Yu said in Beijing Thursday.

But every other time the regime has been challenged, it has responded with
force.

"Judging from the nature and habit of the Myanmar military, they will not
allow the monks or activists to topple them," said Chaiyachoke
Julsiriwong, a Myanmar scholar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

____________________________________

September 28, Financial Times
Burma’s battle with the blogs - David Bowen

Videos taken by mobile phones are whisked out under the noses of the
Burmese authorities, eye witness reports are quickly transmitted and
broadcast around the world. The long-held promise of the internet to
undermine totalitarian régimes is finally being delivered. But how exactly
is the material being used, and what is the role of new platforms such as
blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia?

The Burmese government has tried hard to cut its people off from the
online world. A 2005 study by OpenNetInitiative said that it had “one of
the world’s most restrictive regimes of internet control”, with software
blocking 84 per cent of sites with sensitive material. But the people
still have phones, they have some email, and they have the skills to
outwit the authorities by using foreign-based servers. What is more,
bloggers are teaching each other the tricks, so the régime will find it
increasingly difficult to maintain any real barriers.

The sites I looked at can be divided broadly into two: news and opinion.
News is the harder to gather, and here the traditional media organisations
are pulling together what they can. Big sites sites such as the BBC, AFP
and CNN are providing a solid service, though the benefits of local
knowledge and contacts shine through on the specialist Mizzima News site.
This is a Delhi-based news agency covering Burma, and has been keeping up
a running commentary that shows it has contacts in the right places:
“5.30pm: woman protestor injured in police firing”, “5.55pm: Protestors in
Rangoon have dispersed for the day”, “6.00pm: Fully armed soldiers are
seen forming a straight line and marching at the cross roads of 
”.

A news site that may well be useful to Burma-watchers but is otherwise
depressing belongs to the government-controlled Myanmar Times. “Tomorrow’s
paper today” has the sort of news coverage we would expect from a
dictatorship - the main story is “Last session of national convention
under way” and the date is July.

Media websites remain at the centre of news provision. It may be that
Burmese language blogs (such as the one produced in London by Ko Htike)
also have running news, but the English blogs I saw can link only to other
news sites. Of the other new-style social networking devices, the one that
appears to be most news-driven is, surprisingly, Wikipedia. This
encyclopedia is written and edited by its users, and if you look up the
entry for “2007 Burmese anti-government protests”, you will find
impressive evidence of the service they can provide. In mid-afternoon of
Wednesday (September 26), I read a blow-by blow description of what had
happened in Rangoon throughout the same day. Clicking the references, I
saw that the information was being assembled from media sites, including
Mizzima, but the production of instant history in this way is impressive
and (I suppose?) useful.

Other new platforms work mainly as opinion formers and reinforcers.
Facebook, the social network site most used by adult professionals, allows
anyone to set up a group. These can be open or closed, and act as a useful
hybrid between website and hub for conversation. “Burma: the Truth” is a
group set up by Phil Smith in Illinois, with 2,035 members and a fairly
lively discussion board. It is populated mainly by Americans, and has many
links to disturbing videos such as a UK Channel Four documentary on Burma.
Members can also post links they want to promote, such as one to a
petition on the British prime minister’s site (1,464 signatures here when
I checked). Facebook is useful both because of its hybrid role, and also
because it is so easy to exploit: anyone can establish a page or group
with no technical knowledge at all. I can see it becoming the key
gathering point for all kinds of campaign.

One platform that is a bit of a disappointment is the video-sharing site
YouTube. I have read several times this week that it is YouTube that will
undermine the Burmese regime – an FT article was headed “Junta treads
warily in the YouTube era” - and I expected it to be true. Like Facebook,
YouTube’s great strength is that it is so easy to use – anyone with a
little patience will be able to upload a digital video clip to the site.
But if you type “Burma” into YouTube’s search engine, you are presented
first with a video of Jim Carrey demanding action, then the Channel Four
documentary, then a pop group called Burma. I found a couple of videos of
the demonstrations, but most of the clips on Mizzima and elsewhere have
not been processed through YouTube.

A problem is that YouTube is a terrific repository of videos, but it is
mostly used by people whose minds are are on higher things than Burmese
politics. The most viewed videos on Wednesday were an advertisement for
the Halo 3 computer game, “FHM Girls 7” and “Gayfight!”. The only politics
to make it on to the first page were the fun and games between the
presidents of Iran and Columbia University.

Where YouTube does score is in spreading hard-hitting material such as the
documentary (I don’t know what Channel Four thinks about the copyright
issues here), and also quirky films that suit its audience. I found a link
on Mizzima to a YouTube video of General Than Shwe’s daughter which, it
said “was originally obained from a private web-log in Rangoon”. The huge
diamond necklace and overall glitz could be just as damaging to the
régime’s reputation as the documentary.

David Bowen is a website effectiveness consultant for Bowen Craggs & Co
(www.bowencraggs.com). dbowen at bowencraggs.com

____________________________________

September 28, Wall Street Journal Online
Citizen Journalists' evade blackout on Myanmar news

As Myanmar's regime cracks down on a growing protest movement, "citizen
journalists" are breaking the news to the world.

At 1:30 yesterday afternoon, a cellphone buzzed with news for Soe Myint,
the editor in chief of Mizzima News, a publication about Myanmar run by
exiles in New Delhi.
[A video of the Myanmar protests on YouTube.]
A photo, provided by the National League for Democracy-Liberated Area,
from Yangon, Myanmar, on Wednesday, the site of a protest crackdown.

The message: "There is a tourist shot down" in Yangon, the center of
recent protests by Buddhist monks and others against the military junta in
Myanmar, formerly Burma. Troops there were clearing the streets, telling
protesters they had just minutes to go home -- or be shot.

The text message wasn't from one of Soe Myint's reporters. In fact, he
doesn't know who sent the message. He believes it came from one of the
more than 100 students, activists and ordinary citizens who have been
feeding him reports, images and video of the violent events unfolding in
recent days.

In the age of YouTube, cellphone cameras and text messaging, technology is
playing a critical role in helping news organizations and international
groups follow Myanmar's biggest protests in nearly two decades. Citizen
witnesses are using cellphones and the Internet to beam out images of
bloodied monks and street fires, subverting the Myanmar government's
effort to control media coverage and present a sanitized version of the
uprising. The Associated Press reported yesterday that soldiers in Yangon
fired automatic weapons into a crowd of demonstrators as tens of thousands
of pro-democracy protesters converged in the capital. Wire services have
reported the number of dead at nine, citing the state media.

Here are some blogs and media outlets with video and pictures of the
protests in Yangon. (Some are in Burmese.)

The BBC, which has a Burmese language Web site and radio service, is
encouraging its audience to send in photos, like the ones it received of a
monk's monastery that had been ransacked by authorities. A shaky video,
now on YouTube, shows a sea of chanting and clapping monks draped in red
robes marching down a street, past Buddhist monuments. One blog features a
photo showing two abandoned, bloodstained sandals.

Another blog was updated at 3 p.m. Myanmar time yesterday with a few
English lines: "Right now they're using fire engines and hitting people
and dragging them onto E2000 trucks and most of them are girls and people
are shouting." Below the post is a blurry photo of trucks with the
caption, "This is how they come out and try to kill people."

Who produced these reports -- or how the information got out of Myanmar --
hasn't been established. But that's the point in a country where people
caught protesting or writing against the government risk years in prison.

The last time there was a protest of this scale in Myanmar was 1988, when
a pro-democracy uprising was crushed by the military and more than 3,000
people died. First reports of that event came from diplomats and official
media. "Technology has changed everything," says Aung Zaw, a Myanmar exile
whose Thailand publication Irrawaddy has been covering events in Burma
hour-by-hour, with reports gathered online. "Now in a split second, you
have the story," says the editor.

According to the AP, on Thursday Myanmar's state-run newspaper blamed the
protests in Yangon, formerly called Rangoon, on "saboteurs inside and
outside the nation." It also said that the demonstrations were much
smaller than foreign media were reporting.

The events are a trial by fire for so-called citizen journalists, who
cover events that professional journalists can't get to. The Myanmar
government has successfully kept out many reporters, some of whom are
filing their stories about events in Myanmar from India and Thailand.

The AP, Reuters and other media have been retransmitting photos and
reports given to them by exile media organizations like Mizzima,
Irrawaddy, and the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma. Those outfits are
acting as a clearinghouse for images and reports produced by people in
Myanmar.

Time Warner Inc.'s CNN, which had its own reporter in Myanmar on
Wednesday, has also been airing 65 clips and pictures from tourists and
Myanmar residents sent in via its "ireport" citizen-journalist system.

"When traditional methods and professional journalists can't provide
footage, and personal safety allows, citizens rise to the challenge time
and again, often with remarkable material," said Ellana Lee, the managing
editor of CNN Asia Pacific in an email. "Even in countries like Myanmar,
the spread of the Internet and mobile phones has meant that footage will
always continue to get through and the story will be told, one way or
another."

Still, working with inexperienced journalists can be a challenge for news
organizations that want to publish credible, balanced information.
Reuters, which has a reporter stationed in Yangon, says content from
citizen journalists is rigorously checked for accuracy.

Speaking of his correspondents, Aung Zaw, the editor of Irrawaddy, says,
"They are doing their job on the ground, and nobody is even giving them
the assignment. It is our job to check again with our sources, to see how
close to the truth it is."

For example, he says his staff had a long discussion on Wednesday night
about how many deaths had occurred during that day's bloody protests. The
government was reporting one death, but his sources were saying possibly
three, six or seven people died. In the end, after counting known specific
cases, Irrawaddy made the "very difficult call" to say there were six
deaths, says Aung Zaw. "We also said this number couldn't be confirmed."

After Mizzima's Soe Myint received his text message about Thursday's
tourist shooting, he asked one of the 10 reporters who work for him in
Myanmar to verify the claim. An hour and a half after the initial report,
Mizzima reported on its Web site that a 30-year old foreigner was injured
in gunfire, and that an American flag was found with his bag. Security
people also seized his video camera, the report said.

Soe Myint says his grassroots reporting system is in place because his
organization has been building a base of supporters in the country for
years: "This is not the work of one day. We have been getting ready for
this for the last nine years. People know our work and how to reach us."

The safety of everyone trying to report from Myanmar now is cause for
concern. Yesterday, a Japanese photojournalist was killed, and another
foreign reporter was injured, according to reports. State media yesterday
reported 11 people were injured in Yangon on Thursday, but it didn't
specify who they were.

One blogger dubbed "Moezack," whose photos and descriptions of the
protests -- sometimes posted minutes after events occurred -- were picked
up by the international press, had stopped blogging. His "Today Burma"
blog is currently empty, and his whereabouts are unknown to several
international groups, though he might be blogging under another name.

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders says that many of the
people sending reports out of Yangon are former journalists and activists,
some of whom have at some point been jailed for their work. "They do it
because they are part of the struggle," says the group's Asia program
director, Vincent Brossel.

Myanmar is hardly a technological hub. Cellphones are expensive, and the
Internet penetration rate is less than 1%. Even before the recent clash,
the government has taken serious steps to censor Internet content,
blocking access to popular foreign news and email services. A 2005 report
by the Open Net Initiative, run out of several universities, said that
Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council has implemented "one of the
world's most restrictive regimes of Internet control."

Yet activists and students in Burma have become particularly skilled at
using technological tricks to bypass those restrictions -- some of them
borrowed from China, where the government also censors the Internet. These
include using proxies, which create a hole in the censorship network by
connecting directly to one computer outside the country.

Reporters Without Borders says that at 3 p.m. yesterday, authorities
disconnected most of the country's cellphone lines, preventing journalists
and demonstrators from reporting on events. Authorities have also closed
some Internet cafes in Yangon, effectively shutting down many blogs and
Web sites.

The Internet has slowed so that it has been difficult to send out
photographs and video. It took several hours for pictures to emerge of
Wednesday's shootings, says Mr. Brossel.

So now groups determined to get news out are turning to costly but
independent satellite phones, which can't as easily be monitored by the
government.

Irrawaddy's Aung Zaw remains confident. "The more they try to suppress
information, the more will come out."

____________________________________

September 27, Free Burma Ranger
Message of solidarity from the people of Shan state

 On September 27, 2007 hundreds of Shan, Pa'O, Palaung, and Lahu villagers
gathered in a internally displaced persons site in Shan State, Eastern
Burma as an act of solidarity with those demonstrating in the larger
cities of Burma. Villagers expressed their common desire for the
restoration of a free and democratic Burma, in which people of every
ethnicity are guaranteed fundamental rights. Much of Shan State continues
to be a warzone, where the Burma Army regularly commits atrocities
against the civilian population, and any act of overt civil disobediance
would most like result in a swift and brutal punishment. The villagers
who gathered today announced their unity of heart and purpose with those
demonstrating in the larger cities against this oppression.

Ethnic peoples of Burma have been under direct attack by the dictators for
years. They hope that the demonstrations in the cities of Burma will draw
international attention and help for those under attack. They also hope
that all the oppressed people of Burma will soon be free.

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 28, The Nation
Asean demands Burmese junta to stop crackdown - Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which Burma also a
member, demanded the military junta to immediately desist form the use of
violence against demonstrators.

The military junta admitted that its troops killed at least nine people
during the crackdown to the massive protest.

Foreign Ministers of the regional grouping met on Thursday on the side
line of the United Nations General Assembly to take common position over
the crisis in Burma.

They expressed their revulsion to Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win over
reports that the demonstrations were being suppressed by violent force and
that there been a number of fatalities.

Singaporean foreign minister George Yeo, as the chair of the group, issued
a statement after the meeting calling Burma to "exercise utmost restraint
and seek a political solution."

They called upon Myanmar to resume its efforts at the national
reconciliation with all parties concerned, and work towards a peaceful
transition to democracy. The Asean ministers also called for the release
of all political detainees including Aung San Suu Kyi, minister Yeo said
in a read out statement.

With the support from the Asean, the United Nations special envoy to Burma
Ibrahim Gambari got a green right to land in Burma as Nyan Win assured the
meeting that his visa would be used in Singapore.

Gambari was in his way to Singapore and expected to get access into Burma
in couple of days, said foreign minister Nitya Pibulsonggram.

The Asean asked the Burmese government to fully cooperate with Gambari.

"Gambari's role as neutral interlocutor among all the parties can help
defuse the dangerous situation," said the Asean chairman's statement.

Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar said Burma should engage with
Gambari fully and allow access for him to be able to find solution toward
democracy.

"Now there is no going backward, there is a need for political process,

They should not deal the demonstration with violence," Syed told reporters
after the Asean meeting.

Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win did not give interview to journalists
but Syed said the Burmese only explained what he considered the actual
situation accusing some parties tried to create instability within Burmaa.

"But we want to see the tangible side of political reconciliation that
Aung San Suu Kyi is released," he said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 28, Associated Press
China, Japan to cooperate on solution to Myanmar crisis amid international
outcry - Christopher Bodeen

Myanmar's deadly military crackdown prompted protests and warnings from
the reclusive nation's Asian neighbors, with China and Japan agreeing
Friday to join efforts to help end the strife.

China was again called upon to use its diplomatic and economic influence
to restrain Myanmar's junta, although Chinese scholars and diplomats say
Beijing's clout may be overestimated.

Southeast Asian nations issued a statement expressing "revulsion" over the
violent repression of demonstrations and strongly urged the military
government to call off its troops and seek a political solution. Officials
in neighboring Thailand said airplanes were on standby to evacuate
foreigners in case the condition deteriorated.

Outrage over the crackdown has also spread globally, and diplomats said
the U.N. Human Rights Council would call an emergency session on Myanmar
after a petition led by Western countries gained the support of one third
of the body's 47 nations.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he agreed in a phone
conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao to work together on
international efforts to solve the crisis.

"I asked that China, given its close ties with Myanmar, exercise its
influence (to help solve the current crisis) and Premier Wen said he will
make such efforts," Fukuda told reporters in Tokyo on Friday.

China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Wen and Fukuda talked
about regional issues of common concern, but did not mention Myanmar
directly.

China is Myanmar's main economic and political ally, while Japan is its
largest aid donor. Tokyo suspended most grants after the regime killed
pro-democracy protesters in 1988, but provides aid mainly for health,
education and humanitarian projects.

At least 10 people have been killed in two days of violence in Myanmar's
largest cities, including a Japanese cameraman who was shot when soldiers
with automatic rifles fired into crowds demanding an end to 45 years of
military rule.

Exile groups say the toll could be much higher.

The crackdown puts China in a bind. Its communist government has developed
close diplomatic ties with junta leaders and is a major investor in
Myanmar. But with the Beijing Olympics less than a year away, China is
eager to fend off criticism that it shelters unpopular or abusive regimes.

China has refused to intervene, calling the protests an internal affair
that didn't threaten regional or global stability, the criteria for action
by the U.N. Security Council.

However, Peking University Southeast Asia expert Liang Yingming said a
stable Myanmar was essential for China, both to ensure order on its
southern flank and ensure the delivery of oil supplies via a cross-border
pipeline.

"China's diplomacy is more pragmatic. They are concerned mainly about
securing a government that is friendly toward China to protect their
interests in Myanmar."

However, Liang said the international community may be overestimating
China's influence over the regime, echoing earlier statements by Chinese
academics and diplomats.

"I actually don't think China can influence Burma at all except through
diplomacy. China's influence is not at all decisive," Liang said.

China's Foreign Ministry on Friday issued a notice urging citizens
traveling to Myanmar to exercise caution and reconsider their travel
plans.

However, a woman who answered the phone at the ministry's news division
said she did not know of any plans to evacuate Chinese citizens from
Myanmar.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese regularly travel to Myanmar or reside
there full time.

In New York on Thursday, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or
ASEAN, said the group's foreign ministers "were appalled to receive
reports of automatic weapons being used and demanded that the Myanmar
government immediately desist from the use of violence against
demonstrators."

"They expressed their revulsion to Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win," the
statement said.

Myanmar is an ASEAN member, along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

Japan said Friday it would press Myanmar for a full explanation of the
death of 50-year-old APF News journalist Kenji Nagai during the crackdown
Thursday. But the government said it has not decided to suspend
humanitarian aid to the impoverished country.

Fukuda said Nagai's death was "extremely unfortunate."

"We hope the Myanmar government will give us a full explanation," Fukuda
said.

The U.S. Treasury on Thursday said it would freeze any assets held by 14
top officials in the junta within U.S. jurisdiction, and banned U.S.
citizens from doing business with them.

Daily demonstrations by tens of thousands have grown into the stiffest
challenge to the ruling generals in two decades, starting on Aug. 19 with
rallies against a fuel price hike, that escalated dramatically when monks
began joining the protests.

Hundreds of people have been arrested, snatched from their beds at night
or pummeled with batons, witnesses and diplomats said, with the junta
ignoring international appeals for restraint.

In Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur about 2,000 Myanmar immigrants
rallied peacefully outside their country's embassy.

They later marched to the embassies of China and Russia, which has joined
Beijing in blocking Security Council action.

Cambodia's main opposition leader Sam Rainsy led about 100 activists in a
demonstration outside the Myanmar embassy. Seven Myanmar nationals also
participated in the rally.

On Wednesday, China refused to condemn Myanmar and ruled out imposing
sanctions, but for the first time agreed to a Security Council statement
expressing concern over the violent crackdown and urging the country's
military rulers to allow in a U.N. envoy.

____________________________________

September 28, The Associated Press
China, refusing to condemn Myanmar, pleads for calm; ASEAN nations express
'revulsion' : Christopher Bodeen

China issued an evenhanded plea for calm in Myanmar on Thursday after
refusing to condemn the military-run government, while Southeast Asian
nations expressed "revulsion" at the violent repression of the
demonstrations.

The United States said it was imposing economic sanctions against 14 top
officials in the military junta.

A statement issued after a foreign ministers' meeting of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's
ministerial meeting in New York strongly urged Myanmar's government "to
exercise utmost restraint and seek a political solution."

The ASEAN ministers called for the release of all political prisoners,
including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house
arrest.

"They expressed their revulsion to Myanmar 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," the statement said.

"They strongly urged Myanmar to exercise utmost restraint and seek a
political solution," it said. "They called upon Myanmar to resume its
efforts at national reconciliation with all parties concerned, and work
towards a peaceful transition to democracy."
Myanmar is an ASEAN member, along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked with officials from Myanmar
attending the ASEAN meeting.

"The U.S. is determined to keep an international focus on the travesty in
Burma," Rice told reporters, using the other name the country is known by.

Rice also made the U.S. displeasure clear in a direct response to a
statement made by one of the Myanmar officials, according to State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"She was very direct," he said. "She made it very clear it is unacceptable
for the government to use violence against these peaceful protesters."

McCormack refused to characterize the statement by the Myanmar official,
but said that Rice "felt it was important to provide a response."

China has come under increasing pressure to use its regional influence to
urge Myanmar's ruling junta to show restraint in dealing with the
protests.

On Wednesday, China refused to condemn Myanmar and ruled out imposing
sanctions, but for the first time agreed to a Security Council statement
expressing concern at the violent crackdown and urging the country's
military rulers to allow in a U.N. envoy.

The U.N. special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, headed for Myanmar at
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's request to try to promote a political
solution and reconciliation efforts. U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe
said Ban had been told by Win that Gambari "will be welcomed by the
Myanmar government."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing that "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."

The crackdown puts China in a bind. Its communist government has developed
close diplomatic ties with junta leaders and is a major investor in
Myanmar. But with the Beijing Olympics less than a year away, China is
eager to fend off criticism that it shelters unpopular or abusive regimes.

China and Russia contend the situation in Myanmar is an internal affair
and doesn't threaten international peace and security as required for
Security Council action so getting them to agree to the press statement
was considered a positive step.

The Bush administration announced that 14 senior officials in Myanmar
would be subject to sanctions. Those targeted include the junta leader,
Senior Gen. Than Shwe, and the No. 2 man, Deputy Senior Gen. Maung Aye.
The action freezes any assets the 14 have in U.S. banks or other financial
institutions under U.S. jurisdiction, and also prohibits any U.S. citizens
from doing business with those individuals.

At the United Nations on Tuesday, Bush accused Myanmar of imposing "a
19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and
worship.

"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand
their freedom, and the American people stand in solidarity with these
brave individuals," Bush said in a statement.

European Union diplomats agreed to consider imposing more economic
sanctions on Myanmar. Sanctions were first imposed in 1996 and include a
ban on travel to Europe for top government officials, an assets freeze and
a ban on arms sales to Myanmar.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in
Beijing that the use of force by the junta "will solve nothing."

"We all need to agree on the fact that the Burmese government has got to
stop thinking that this can be solved by police and military, and start
thinking about the need for genuine reconciliation with the broad spectrum
of political activists in the country," he added.

Hill was expected to discuss the violence in Myanmar with Chinese
officials on the sidelines of North Korean nuclear disarmament talks this
week in Beijing. He declined to say whether Washington would request
specific measures from Beijing.

Among those killed Thursday was Kenji Nagai, a journalist for the Japanese
video news agency APF News. Nagai, 50, had been covering the protests
since Tuesday, APF representative Toru Yamaji said in Japan.

In Washington, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tokyo held
Myanmar "strictly" accountable for Nagai's death. The 50-year-old
journalist had been covering the protests in Yangon, APF representative
Toru Yamaji said in Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Japan will lodge a protest
with Myanmar, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. "We strongly
protest the Myanmar government and demand an investigation" into the
death, Machimura was quoted as saying by the official, speaking on
customary condition of anonymity, as saying. "We demand (Myanmar) take
appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the Japanese citizens in that
country."

Japan will send Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka to Myanmar to
protest Nagai's death, said Tomohiko Taniguchi, a deputy press secretary
traveling with Komura in Washington.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his government would also press
Beijing to urge the junta to end its violent repression.

Associated Press writers Mari Yamiguchi in Tokyo, Foster Klug and Martin
Crutsinger in Washington, Jan Sliva in Brussels, Belgium, and Edith M.
Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

____________________________________

September 28, The Nations
Family of Burma's super boss are in Laos - reports

Burma's Gen Than Shwe family is reported to board a plane which landed in
Vientiane, Laos on Thursday, reported Merinews online.

In what could be a harbinger of things to come in Burma, in bloody
turmoil, a chartered flight from the country landed in Vientiane, Laos'
capital.

Rumours have been rife, right through the day, in the strife torn country
that the military junta supremo, Senior General Than Shwe's family was
planning to leave Burma.

The family of eight was said to have boarded Burma's Air Bagan flight,
which landed in Vientiane at 6 p.m. (local time) on Thursday, according to
the Merinews.

The chartered flight carried eight passengers. Than Shwe's close associate
Tayza, a business tycoon in Burma, owns the airline.

The passengers were said to be close relatives of Than Shwe including his
wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing.

The junta is likely to pass off the departure of the family to merely a
visit to Laos.

Political observers feel that Than Shwe and his family left the country in
the wake of large-scale violence, which left nine people dead, according
to the state run media. The actual deaths might be much higher, according
to unconfirmed reports.

Letting loose terror on peaceful monks did not go down well with a section
of the junta. Did the heat become too much for Than Shwe to handle?
Political developments in strife-torn Burma would certainly unfold many
truths.

____________________________________

September 28, Agence France Presse
Myanmar must release Aung San Suu Kyi: Philippines

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo called Friday for Myanmar to release
all its political prisoners, including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
and hold a dialogue for national reconciliation.

Expressing concern about the growing unrest in Myanmar, Arroyo urged
Yangon "to act with the utmost restraint."

In a statement she called on Myanmar to hold national reconciliation talks
which would require the "release of all those who have been detained...
including Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi," the statement said.

Arroyo, who is in New York for a meeting of the UN General Assembly, also
called on Myanmar to invite the UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to visit
the country "as soon as possible."

Myanmar and the Philippines are members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has previously taken a soft policy on
Myanmar.

The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

About 30 labour activists staged a peaceful rally outside the Myanmar
embassy in the Philippine capital on Friday with five of the activists
shaving their heads in a sign of solidarity with the protesting monks.

"Free Burma now," they chanted as they waved a huge banner of Myanmar
leader General Tan Shwe with the words "Wanted for crimes against the
people of Burma."

Joshua Mata, secretary-general of the Alliance of Progressive Labor, said
the Philippines had a responsibility to lead ASEAN in expelling Myanmar.

This was because it was the Philippines that argued that inducting Myanmar
into ASEAN would lead to more democracy. "Recent events have shown the
constructive engagement policy of ASEAN doesn't work," he said.

____________________________________

September 28, The Hindu
Gujral crticises Govt's response to events in Myanmar

New Delhi, Maintaining that "silence" over the recent developments in
Myanmar would damage India's interest in the region, former Prime Minister
I K Gujral has said the country should support the pro-democracy movement
in the neighbouring country.

"We cannot watch silently... We cannot afford to keep silent and the
military rulers (In Myanmar) must understand that they cannot count on
India," he said on 'India Tonight' programme on CNBC TV18 conducted by
Karan Thapar.

On External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's hope that all sides will
resolve their issues peacefully through dialogue, Gujral said he felt
"embarrassed" that only these words have been used.

The former Prime Minister said he agreed totally that Mukherjee's
statement had let down India. "We are not only imperiling but really
damaging our own interest in the region," he said.

To a question, Gujral said he would not buy the theory that India had some
commercial interest in Myanmar. "We do not have any such commercial
interest (in that country which should compel us to take a particular
line," he said.

Participating in the discussion, Tint Swe, former MP of pro-democracy
party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, claimed that 100 people have died in the
current demonstration in Yangon.

He said a "strong message" and "concrete action" were needed from world
leaders for restoration of democracy in Myanmar.

Former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitly said it was time for all Indians to
speak out.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 28, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
UN envoy to begin Myanmar trip Saturday as world condemns junta

Myanmar Demos UN UN envoy to begin Myanmar trip Saturday as world condemns
junta Starts new cycle with Gambari's visit to begin Saturday New York

A UN envoy is to begin his trip to Myanmar Saturday to assess the crisis
in that country where military authorities have cracked down on
pro-democracy demonstrators, the United Nations said.

Myanmar's military junta agreed to receive Ibrahim Gambari, a UN
spokeswoman said Thursday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received
Myanmar's assurance that it would cooperate with Gambari, Marie Okabe
said.

The pledge was made by Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win, who was visiting
New York and met with Ban, who called on Myanmar's government "to engage
in a constructive dialogue" with Gambari "and to commit to a path of
peaceful and inclusive national reconciliation," Ban's office said.

The United States demanded that Gambari be allowed to meet with all
parties in the current turmoil, in which a week and a half of peaceful
anti-government protests in Yangon have been met by the military junta
with shootings, beatings and arrests.

Among those Gambari must be allowed access to are religious leaders,
political detainees, and democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for years, the White
House said.

US President George W Bush held an apparently unscheduled meeting Thursday
with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi of China, one of Myanmar's only allies,
and called on Beijing to use its influence with Myanmar's junta to
encourage it to peacefully transition to democracy, the White House said.

The meeting came on the same day in which the United States enacted
sanctions against 14 top officials in Myanmar's regime.

The US Treasury Department placed the sanctions on the chief of the ruling
State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, who also
serves as defence minister and effectively rules the junta.

The sanctions freeze any assets and prohibit Americans and US companies
from having business transactions with Shwe and the 13 others, including
Lieutenant General Thein Sein, the acting prime minister, and Vice Senior
General Maung Aye, the commander of the army.

The European Union has also begun considering sanctions on the country
once known as Burma.

"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand
their freedom, and the American people stand in solidarity with these
brave individuals," Bush said.

Myanmar's neighbours also condemned its actions.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which
Myanmar is a member, said in a statement issued Thursday in New York that
it was "appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used and
demanded that the Myanmar government immediately desist from the use of
violence against demonstrators."

The ASEAN foreign ministers were at UN headquarters to take part in debate
at the UN General Assembly. Diplomats said Nyan Win did not sign the
statement.

The statement was issued on a day the violence escalated in Yangon. At
least nine people - eight protestors and a Japanese photojournalist - were
killed, state television said. The first deaths were reported a day
earlier with the government saying one person died Wednesday while
dissidents and officials said at least five people, including monks, were
killed.

The ASEAN statement expressed "revulsion" to Nyan Win over reports of
violence committed against the demonstrators and the deaths.

The statement called for "utmost restraint" and for a political solution.
It called also for the release of all political prisoners, including
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Japan on Friday filed a strong protest against the Myanmar government over
the death of the Japanese journalist and demanded the junta refrain from
using violence against the protestors.

Tokyo, like other governments in Asia, has conducted a policy of
engagement with Myanmar's junta, rather than the sanctions preferred by
the West, in the hopes of persuading its regime to improve its human
rights record and move toward democracy. On Thursday, before more killings
were reported, Japan had called for dialogue to resolve the upheaval.

China, which days earlier had used its veto power in the UN Security
Council to quash a joint statement on Myanmar, warned its ally Thursday to
exercise restraint in handling anti-government protestors and voiced its
support of UN mediation between the two
sides.

____________________________________

September 28, Irrawaddy
International Pressure Building on Burma - Lalit K. Jha

Even as China and Russia continue to oppose any move to impose sanctions
on Burma, the outcry of the world community against the Burmese military
junta intensified on Thursday, as reports of more deaths of innocent
people and monks protesting against the government came in.

The world’s wrath was more visible at the UN in New York where world
leaders gathered to attend the 62nd Session of the General Assembly.
Several leaders, including the U.S. president, strongly condemned the
action taken by the military junta.

The issue was not only raised during the General Assembly debate, but also
at several other meetings on the sidelines. One volatile situation arose
when the Myanmar representative traded blows with the Asean foreign
minister and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice told reporters after the meeting that she had an opportunity to
address the issue with the Burmese representatives directly, but did not
give any details. “I can just assure you that the US is determined to keep
international focus on the travesty that is taking place in Rangoon,” she
said.

Reflecting the mood of the larger global community, the Thai Prime
Minister, Surayud Chulanont, said that the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations was appalled at reports of automatic weapons being used against
demonstrators and that there had been fatalities.

“Thailand finds as unacceptable the commission of violence and bodily harm
to Buddhist monks and other demonstrators,” he said in his speech before
the General Assembly.

Observing that democracy must be achieved in a peaceful manner, Chulanont
said: “We strongly urge Myanmar to exercise utmost restraint and seek a
political solution and resume its efforts at national reconciliation with
all parties concerned.”

Such statements coming from Asean countries were considered surprisingly
forceful by diplomats at the UN. The Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu said
the comments were “very strong.” The French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner said pressure from Asean is the strongest tool the world
community has to stop violence in Burma.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has been taking a
personal interest in the Burmese situation, said he was “pleased” with the
decision of the Burmese authorities to allow Ibrahim Gambari, his Special
Envoy on Burma, to visit the country on September 29.

Following reports of use of force by the military junta on peaceful
protestors, the Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, dispatched Gambari to
Burma on Wednesday night to take stock of the situation. However, at the
time of leaving New York, he did not have a Burmese visa. It took much
back-channel negotiations involving China until Burma finally agreed to
allow Gambari a permit.

In a statement, the Secretary General called on the authorities to engage
in constructive dialogue with Gambari, who will begin his visit on
September 29, and “to commit to a path of peaceful and inclusive national
reconciliation.”

The US Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad emphasized the importance of
allowing Gambari to meet all the relevant people, including the
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“It is very important that after he has done that, he comes back and
reports to the council, so that the council can evaluate, judge and make
appropriate decisions,” he said. The ambassador said that the US would
continue to focus on Burma.

In Washington, the Chinese Foreign Minister met the US President, George
W. Bush. The visiting dignitary informed Bush about the Chinese efforts to
seek the co-operation of the Burmese authorities in this regard.

Commending the courage and leadership of the Buddhist monks to take on the
military junta, the US President said in a statement: “We feel admiration
and compassion for the monks and peaceful protesters calling for
democracy.”

Bush called on all the nations that have any influence with the regime to
support the aspirations of the people of Burma and “tell the Burmese Junta
to cease using force on its own people.”

“I urge the Burmese soldiers and police not to use force on their fellow
citizens. I call on those who embrace the values of human rights and
freedom to support the legitimate demands of the Burmese people,” Bush
said.

A US State Department spokesperson urged Asean countries—and to a larger
extent, India and China—to us their influence with the Burmese military
“to do what they can to put pressure on the Burmese regime.”

____________________________________

September 28, Agence France Presse
Facebookers assail Myanmar junta - Miranda Leitsinger

The battle for Myanmar is also being waged through the popular online
social networking site Facebook, where users are rallying support against
the military junta.

Reports of Myanmar forces shooting into crowds of protesters, arresting
monks and beating dissidents have fuelled anger in cyberspace.

But the thousands of messages posted by Facebookers also capture the
frustration of a virtual network struggling to bring about meaningful
change in the real world.

"I've been glued to the Wall (where people can file video, photos and
messages) for the last two days and seen how helpless and impotent people
are feeling while these atrocities are being carried out," wrote Chantal
Guevara.

"Somehow, there's some way we can make this happen between us, between all
the contacts and skills we have!" she added.

A search on Facebook turns up some 340 groups linked to the Southeast
Asian nation such as "Burma: Saffron Revolution" and "drop-kick the
junta!!!," which offer video, photos, messages, petitions and news about
what is happening in Myanmar.

The largest of these groups, "Support the Monks protest in Burma," has
73,000 members and tells people how to help: join protests, write to
elected officials, e-mail companies operating in Myanmar, and wear red
shirts on Friday in support of the monks leading the anti-government
protests.

Other resources and news updates are also posted.

One girl, a Taylor W, said she started a school club to raise awareness,
while San San Aye, said her school would rally at the United Nations
headquarters in New York.

Facebook user Natasha Lutes said two people posting accounts from Myanmar
now seemed to be having difficulty with the Internet. Though she did not
specify what the trouble was, she did offer help.

"One of the most important things we can do is get the news out," she
wrote. "If they agree to e-mail me their posts, I'm going to start posting
up the news while I'm at work."

Facebook has become the online phenomenon of 2007.

It reportedly has nearly 40 million members and is adding up to 200,000
new members every day. The explosion in popularity has seen the site
courted by Internet giants Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft over the past
year.

The site is where people from around the globe can join forces.

"I have people telling me that the Internet is down in all of Burma,"
Nyantha Maw Lin wrote. "Will others please verify?"

The response came from Rob Huff: "Media is confirming that internet is
down, or in the process of being shut down."

It's not the first time Facebook has been used to support causes since the
site debuted in 2004. And like with any Internet network, there is
opportunity for unsubstantiated rumours to take hold.

Vanessa Gartner said her media company got a call from a man living in
Singapore who had spoken with his sister in Myanmar on Thursday.

"She says hundreds of people have been killed," Gartner wrote. "How many
people do you really think have been shot?"

Facebooker, Jason Newton, wrote: "I've heard General Shwe (the military
leader) is now directing soldiers because some commanders refused to use
force ... not sure if it is true or not though."

Some believe the Facebook mobilisation is a start but question the impact
users can have. The red shirt day idea was called a "stupid Internet
protest" by user Vincent Modica.

"Stop being a slacktivist and go do some useful protesting," he wrote.

____________________________________

September 28, Japan Economic Newswire
U.S. Senate resolution to urge China, Japan to act on Myanmar

The U.S. Senate is set to introduce a draft resolution as early as Friday
condemning the Myanmar junta's crackdown on demonstrators that will call
on China to halt its military assistance to the country and encourage
Japan, one of Myanmar's largest aid donors, to use its influence on the
military government, congressional sources said.

The House of Representatives also plans to vote on a similar resolution in
the near future, according to the sources. The resolution was initially
introduced in the House in August and, following the recent developments
in Myanmar, was amended to urge China and other parties to review their
policies on Myanmar and use their influence to resolve the situation.

The latest wave of protests against the junta in Myanmar has been met with
a severe crackdown by the government. At least nine people including a
Japanese national have died and hundreds of Buddhist monks have been
arrested.

The Senate is expected to pass the draft resolution unanimously as early
as Friday afternoon, the sources said.

The nonbinding resolutions of the two houses are expected to draw
bipartisan support and will likely step up pressure from the U.S. Congress
not only on the Myanmar junta but also for Japan and China to act.

Sen. John Kerry, a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, is the primary
sponsor of the Senate resolution, which was co-sponsored by around 15
bipartisan members of the chamber as of Thursday afternoon, the sources
said.

The draft Senate resolution, a copy of which was obtained by Kyodo News,
states, "The United States strongly condemns the use of violence against
peaceful protestors in Burma (Myanmar), and calls on the Government of
Burma to refrain from further violence, immediately cease attacks against
ethnic minority civilians, and release (pro-democracy leader) Aung Sang
Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners."

The draft resolution calls on "China and all other nations that have
provided military assistance to the government of Burma to suspend such
assistance until civilian democratic rule is restored."

It urges China to withdraw its objections to a January 2007 U.N. Security
Council resolution condemning the Myanmar junta's actions against
protesters.

"The United States and the United Nations should strongly encourage China,
India, Russia, Japan and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations)...to use their influence to convince the government of Burma to
engage in dialogue with opposition leaders and ethnic minorities," it
says.

The House's draft resolution was amended slightly to urge "China and other
countries that provide political and economic support to Burma's military
junta to modify their policy on Burma."

It added a clause stating, "Congress underscores its expectation that
Burmese government officials who order or participate in violent
crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators will face justice for any crimes they
commit."

____________________________________

September 28, Agence France Presse
British PM says Myanmar violence 'must cease'

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday that violence against
demonstrators in Myanmar "must cease", condemning the military regime and
saying the coming days will be critical.

"I condemn the violence that has been used against the unarmed Burmese
protestors who have been exercising with great bravery their right to
peaceful protest," he said in a statement.

"I had hoped that the Burmese regime would heed the calls for restraint
from the international community. But once again they have responded with
oppression and force. This must cease," he added.

His comments came after Myanmar security forces again fired warning shots
and launched baton charges on protesters, trying to quell the biggest
demonstrations against the junta in 20 years.

At least 13 people have been killed since the crackdown began Wednesday.

"The coming days will be critical. The international community must
intensify its efforts," said Brown.

"The UK is pressing urgently for tougher EU sanctions. We strongly back
the mission of Ban Ki-moon's representative, Ibrahim Gambari, to Burma. I
applaud the powerful call for restraint from the countries of ASEAN," he
said.

He added that he would be speaking to Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao
and US President George W. Bush later in the day about the situation.

Brown also paid tribute to the protestors, and reiterated London's support
for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won 1990 elections, but the
military refused to recognize its victory.

"The democratic movement in Burma has stood firmly behind Aung San Suu
Kyi's calls for reconciliation, inclusivity and unity. I salute their
courage, moderation and dignity," he said.

Britain is the former colonial power in Myanmar, which it calls Burma as
it does not recognise the legitimacy of the military regime that renamed
the country.

Over the last week monks, revered figures in the devout Buddhist nation,
have helped transform what began as a scattershot series of protests over
a hike in fuel prices to the stiffest challenge to the junta's rule since
1988.

____________________________________

September 28, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
ANALYSIS: Crisis highlights world's failed diplomacy in Myanmar - Peter
Janssen

So far the international community's response to the Myanmar junta's
crackdown this week on marching monks and its own people has been pretty
predictable.

The United Nations has dispatched special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar
this weekend to assess the situation, after the Security Council failed to
issue even a joint statement on the situation due to Chinese objections.

Myanmar's regime has agreed to the Gambari trip and why not? During
Gambari's visit to Myanmar in May last year they welcomed the UN special
envoy, and even allowed him to chat with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
for an hour.

A week after Gambari's departure the junta extended Suu Kyi's house arrest
by another year. She has been under detention since May, 2003.

The US, outraged by Myanmar's brutality, has imposed new sanctions against
the government's top 14 officials, freezing any assets and prohibiting US
citizens and companies from having business with them. Since Myanmar's
generals are not exactly international investors, these sanctions are not
expected to crimp their style.

The EU is also threatening more sanctions against Myanmar, although these
would be "carefully targetted to avoid hurting the general population,"
one European diplomat noted.

It is generally acknowledged that the US and EU sanctions already imposed
on Myanmar have accomplished little in terms of forcing the regime to
change its evil ways, as has been amply demonstrated on the streets of
Yangon this week.

"If they are trying to affect the situation they've got no ammunition to
fire with," said Professor Robert Taylor, a long-time Myanmar watcher and
author of the State in Burma. "They are just pissing in the wind."

Myanmar is one of the world's most isolated nations in the global community.

Nearly all multilateral and bilateral aid was cut to the country in the
aftermath of the army's 1988 crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that
year which left an estimated 3,000 dead.

The aid cut-off was followed up by US sanctions on US companies doing
business in the country in 1989. While the EU does not impose sanctions on
European investments, popular opinion has forced most multinationals to
think twice about dealing with the
regime.

Where Western companies feared to tread, Asian companies saw an opportunity.

That is why western pressure is now focused on forcing China, India and
Thailand, Myanmar's closest business allies (the country earned about 2.3
billion dollars off natural gas sales to Thailand last year) to do more to
bring about political change in the country.

China claims it has little real influence over Myanmar's generals, while
India - the world's largest democracy - abides by its principle of
non-interference with its neighbours' internal policies.

Thailand, whose current government was appointed by a military junta, is
in no position to talk.

What is needed from the international community, instead of more tough
talk and blame game, is an openness to some new initiative towards the
country of 47 million downtrodden people.

There is the six-party talks initiative for ending North Korea's nuclear
weapons threat, why is there no similar initiative to solve Myanmar's
political stalemate?

One reason is because while North Korea poses a genuine threat to the
international community, Myanmar is only a threat to its own people, and
its Asian neighbours, who have to deal with its spillover of untreated
diseases, drugs, refugees and human trafficking.

Given Gambari's past success rate, a multi-party approach to Myanmar's
political dilemma instead of more UN efforts would at least offer
something new.

What is clear is that Myanmar's junta is now in an extremely vulnerable
position, which offers a diplomatic window of opportunity that should not
be squandered on tough talk and idle threats.

The crackdown on monks and laymen, although restrained by 1988 standards,
has outraged the world community and earned the junta near universal
condemnation, even from its close neighbours in South-East Asia.

It has also exposed their seven-step programme for introducing democracy
as the sham it always was.

After spending 14 years drafting the principle for writing a new
constitution, just completed last month, the people have made it clear to
the world community that military-led democracy is not what they want in
the future.

"The international community has been told in no uncertain terms by the
Burmese people that they do not like what has been happening in their
country," said David Mathieson, from Human Rights Watch.

That leaves it up to the international community to help get the people of
Myanmar a better deal by keeping the channels open with the regime to open
a dialogue with their own people.

Everyone need not acknowledge that the military, the only entrenched 
institution in the country other than the monkhood (both are 400,000
strong) needs to be part of the solution.

"We are at a crucial moment, and I don't think it will be easy to go back
to business as usual," said Friedrich Hamburger, head of the European
Union office in Bangkok. "It has to be done now by letting them not lose
their arms but rather reflect on their own future and the future of the
country."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 26, Mizzima News
Dharma war - Tun Tun Naing

Thee triple jewels of Buddhism --- Buddha, Sangha and Dharma have been
reincarnated by Burma's protesting monks as calls for economic reform, the
release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and an apology for recent government
action against protesting monks in Pakkoku rents the Burmese air.

The social and economic policies of the junta, in speeches by monks, are
said to threaten the very fabric of Burmese society.

"If the people are unable to support the monks, the monks in turn will be
unable to render services to the laity."

Throughout the course of marches, civilian participants are commonly heard
proclaiming the strength and fearlessness of the monk, in stark contrast
to how they often present themselves, cowed in front of a barrel of a gun
and lost without the leadership of the sangha.

"We [civvies] are afraid but the monks, are not afraid of anything.
Without monks the people could not march," commented one civilian marcher.

But the regime is seeking to redraw the battle lines, away from questions
of politics and economics and instead has focused directly on what an
appropriate field of activity is for the Sangha, an alternative
interpretation of the dharma supported by past legal tracts between the
government and the Sangha.

The monks are fighting for the people in the arenas of political and
economic policy.

The regime is saying the protesting monks violate and degrade the true
role of the Sangh as preached by Buddha and related in the dharma and the
Sangha should only involve itself in religious affairs.

The regime relies heavily on the Sangha to provide legitimacy to itself as
a rightful and just government. Therefore, if there is to be a crackdown
against the monks, it is of utmost importance that a solid foundation
first be laid as to why the protesting monks and their demands carry no
legitimacy and, further, that it is the monks themselves that risk the
Dharma balance of Burmese society.

The new Light of Myanmar on September 25 devoted all its energy to why the
enraged monks are out of line with the dharma and Burmese law, which is
said to reflect the teaching of the dharma convening the role of the
Sangha in society.

Burmar is a true Theravada Buddhist country and it is famous for keeping
the teaching of the Buddha by members of the Sangha and its disciples,"
said the Minister of Religious Affairs Bri-General Thura Myint Maung. He
requested Sangha leaders "to give instructions for the sake of the
country, the religion and the Sasana."

"Failure to observe or obey the Dhamma order will be met with action
according to law," continued the minister, adding that opposition elements
are abusing and using "young monks who have to knowledge of social and
political affairs as related to the Buddha's teachings."

This question of the role of monks in civil society is not limited to
Burma.The same, often highly confrontational and animated debates, take
place throughout much of the Buddhist world - including in both Thailand
and Sri Lanka .

At this stage, it appears the military in Burma has a long, uphill road to
climb if it is to successfully de-legitimize the engaged Dhammmic approach
of both the protesting monks and supportive laity.

____________________________________

September 28, Wall Street Journal Online
A message from Mandalay - Leslie Hook

A monk in Mandalay has a simple message: Help us. As tens of thousands of
protesters marched across Burma for the ninth straight day amid escalating
violence, the monk spoke to me on the phone yesterday. Hundreds of monks
have been beaten and arrested in the protests that began on Aug. 19, and
at least nine have died this week. With foreign journalists barred from
Burma, being able to hear one man's story is rare, and powerful.

The 27-year-old monk, whose nickname, Upekkha, means "equanimity," was
reached while in hiding in Mandalay, Burma's second-largest city. The
leaders of the protests are just like him: young, radical, educated and
not afraid to speak their mind. Many of these young men have joined to
form an organization called the All Burma Monks Alliance, which is
credited with organizing the protests. Upekkha says the Alliance, of which
he is a member, has its roots in the protests of 1990 -- the year he was
10 -- but re-formed in 2007. It spans monasteries across the country as
well as outside Burma.

Upekkha explains that the Alliance has three basic demands: Fix the
economy, which is so dysfunctional that many Burmese cannot afford basic
food and clothing; release all political prisoners, including democratic
leader Aung San Suu Kyi; and begin peaceful dialogue with the political
opposition. "All the people are facing many problems, many difficulties,
because they [the generals who run Burma] use the wrong system," he says.
"The current crisis of people is caused by the military, which is
oppressing and terrorizing the entire nation. We want to change that
system, we want to change, to reach the civilized society and freedom."
Upekkha adds, "We'll try until we get our rights, we'll continue to
protest."

The monks and protesters are facing ever-higher stakes as soldiers pour
into Burma's major cities, shutting off intersections and blockading
monasteries and temples. "If we continue to protest, [the soldiers] are
sure to fire," he explains. "They are ready to fire, and they have no
sympathy."

Soldiers raided several monasteries in Rangoon in the early hours of
Thursday morning, he says, just as the United Nations Security Council,
meeting in New York, decided against sanctions, or even an official
condemnation of the regime's use of force.

Upekkha describes how soldiers entering Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery broke down
the monastery doors with a car and then beat and arrested scores of monks.
"When they arrive[d] they broke the windows and doors and then they hit
the monks and killed. . . . I don't know how many monks were killed. But
there was blood around the monastery." In a testament to the role that
technology is playing in Burma's "Saffron Revolution," Upekkha recounts
hearing about the raid on a radio broadcast, after someone living near the
monastery called in to report the monks' screams.

On Wednesday monks marched through Mandalay peacefully. "Marching along
the road, monks and nuns chanted "metta," he says, referring to a Buddhist
sutra, "and people supported the monks and nuns by clasping their hands."
Even government officials appeared to support the protesters. "After we
met them, we chant metta -- loving kindness -- and some chief police
saluted the monks. After chanting the metta, all the cars on the side of
the road, they supported by shouting."

The metta sutra, a text that emphasizes goodwill, underscores the
protesters' message of peace. "Hatred is indeed never appeased by hatred
in this world. It is only appeased by loving kindness," Upekkha says.
That's a tough message to deliver when you're staring at the barrel of a
gun.

He emphasizes how much the protesters need support from abroad, bringing
up the U.N. again and again -- almost as if by repeating the name of the
international body he can will it to action. Yet he remains doubtful. "The
international community, including the United Nations, cannot help us. It
is very sorrowful. We are all in trouble just now. We don't know what to
do. . . . We have a great hope [for] the result of the United Nations, but
there is not any result. . . . International communities cannot overcome
the Chinese power," he laments. China, the regime's biggest backer, has
blocked tough action against the generals in the Security Council.

Upekkha thinks it would make little difference even if Ibrahim Gambari,
the U.N. special envoy with whom the regime has spoken in the past, is
permitted to visit. "He cannot do anything here for us. He comes here
again and again." As the monk spoke yesterday, Mr. Gambari was en route to
Singapore, where he hoped to obtain a visa for Burma.

"The United Nations knows very well the present situation," Upekkha says.
"I think they will come to our country, but maybe after we die."

Ms. Hook is an editorial writer at The Wall Street Journal Asia.

____________________________________

September 28, The Independent (London)
The West must confront Burma's supporters - Pascal Khoo-Thwe

The keepers of the soul of Burma - the Buddhist monks - have risen up for
the nation by staging peaceful demonstrations in Rangoon and other major
cities at a time when the ruling junta appears to be on top. Not long ago,
no one dared to think that the thoroughly cowed people of Burma would have
the courage to defy the military authority even by means of a smirk.

But it has happened again like it did in 1988 when the people of Burma
showed their displeasure at the ruling power with nationwide protests and
paid for it with their lives when thousands were killed as a result of the
uprising. The situation in the country didn't change, and on this occasion
the success or failure of the protests will depend on how well-organised
and determined the monks are.

As soon as reports came out of the UN Security Council's decision not to
take any direct action but just to urge the junta restraints against the
protesters , a friend of mine phoned me from Burma to express his feeling.
"We don't want our country to become another Rwanda," he said with a deep
sigh. It seems that his fear might yet come true, as reports of violence,
injuries and deaths are continuing to emerge as I write this. "I hope I am
still alive by this evening," my friend said before he put the phone down,
and I could hear the determination in his voice.

The top generals will cling on to their fantasy of a peaceful Burma under
military rule and they will do everything in their power to crush anyone
they deem harmful to their role as the guardians of the nation. For them
it is a fight for ideology as much as survival. The head-on collision with
the monks and the people could end up in a protracted war of hatred with
no clear winners.

The situation has been made worse by the unscrupulous actions of
neighbouring countries like China, India and Thailand. They have been
supporting the brutal regime by supplying them with weapons and
technologies for procuring raw materials and natural resources from Burma.
So the problems go beyond the question of whether tourists should go to
Burma, or whether companies should invest in it. The question that really
needs to be asked is whether western nations have the guts to tell China
and India not to support a regime that has no intention of helping its
people.

No Burmese ruler will act for the good of his people unless he feels that
his own existence is under pressure or threat from outside. It is not
enough for the United States alone to impose sanctions on the generals nor
for European nations to "consult" with their colleagues. Solid action is
now needed if further bloodshed and long-tern political problems are to be
avoided.

Another reason the Burmese generals have delayed their violent crackdowns
is the concerns expressed from Beijing, as evidenced by the visit of one
of the ministers of the junta to China as soon as the protests started a
couple of weeks ago. It seems that China is particularly keen that nothing
untoward happens in its neighbouring countries while it is trying to host
the 2008 Olympics. Whether we Burmese like it or not, in terms of global
politics, Burma has become a part of China, and our future and fate hang
on decisions and actions taken in Beijing.

But the generals are not likely to care what the outside world thinks in
any case, and the current crisis could turn nastier with their usual use
of devious tactics to stay in power at all cost. In this situation, it is
important that the international community, especially the United Nations,
keeps a close eye on developments and prepares itself to provide pragmatic
help and intervene through whatever means it can. What it must not do is
to get bogged down again on the question of whether the junta should be
isolated or not, but concentrate on how to remove a regime that has been
of no use to humanity.

Meanwhile, opposition groups inside and outside Burma need to concentrate
their efforts on the rebuilding process, rather than talking about revenge
or retaliation. More important, armed ethnic groups - the so-called
"peace" groups which signed ceasefire agreements with the junta - must
find a way to communicate with their political counterparts despite
various restrictions on them, in order to prevent chaos that would follow
if the top generals unleashed their evil plans in a do-or-die situation.

Whatever is going to happen in the coming days, bloodshed or a peaceful
solution to the crisis, we all need to keep our heads cool and our heart
in the right place to help the people who are risking their lives for
freedom. We need to be afraid with our eyes open in order to solve or
avoid the problems one by one.

Pascal Khoo-Thwe took part in the 1988 uprising as a student leader. He is
the author of 'From the Land of Green Ghosts'

____________________________________

September 28, Washington Post
Burma's revolt of the spirit - Michael Gerson

The great virtue of Buddhism is serene courage in the face of inevitable
affliction. That courage is on display now in Burma -- a nation caught
upon the wheel of suffering.

The sight of young, barefoot monks in cinnamon robes quietly marching for
democracy, amid crowds carrying banners reading "love and kindness," is
already a symbol of conscience for a young century. On closer examination,
these protests have also shown that nonviolence need not be tame or
toothless. The upside-down bowls carried by some of the monks signal that
they will not accept alms from the leaders of the regime, denying them the
ability to atone for bad deeds or to honor their ancestors. These chanting
monks are playing spiritual hardball.

Once again -- as in the American civil rights struggle and the end of
communism in Eastern Europe -- religion is proving to be an uncontrollable
force in an oppressive society. Religious dissidents have the ability not
only to organize opposition to tyrants but also to shame them. Political
revolutions often begin as revolutions of the spirit.

But the spirit, at least for the moment, is fastened to the body, which is
subject to truncheons, tear gas and imprisonment. The junta in control of
Burma, as we are seeing, is capable of extraordinary brutality. A regime
that employs forced labor, conducts war on ethnic minorities and engages
in systematic rape will hardly balk at the murder of monks and other
protesters -- something it has done before by the thousands.

Fortunately, however, the regime's aging, increasingly feeble leadership
is also capable of extraordinary stupidity. After the pointless
construction of a new capital in a remote part of the country and the
building of luxury housing for the military elite, Burma's government is
cash-strapped. So it increased fuel prices by up to 500 percent, causing
bus fares and the cost of basic commodities such as rice to spike. All
through the summer, the democratic opposition has wisely focused its
critique of the junta on the collapsing economy -- a collapse the regime
is doing its best to hasten. After 40 years of military rule, Burma's per
capita income is about one-fifth that of its neighbor Thailand, and child
malnutrition is widespread.

The Bush administration hopes this economic discontent injects an element
of instability into the regime itself. While the upper ranks of the
Burmese military are well taken care of, the lower ranks often scramble
for basic necessities. The Burmese guards outside the U.S. Embassy in
Rangoon, according to one U.S. official, are currently getting by on a
single meal a day.

The sanctions President Bush announced at the United Nations this week are
designed to exploit these tensions. The new measures focus on the main
five or 10 leaders of the junta and their families, along with key Burmese
businessmen who broker foreign deals for the regime. With greater pressure
at the top, perhaps a second tier of military leaders will be tempted to
overthrow their well-fed superiors. "There is kindling here for change,"
says one senior Bush official.

This strategy would have a much greater chance of success with the support
of nations in the region. When the strongest outside pressure comes from
the United States, France and Britain, it is easier for the regime to
rally opposition against the "colonial powers." But the response of most
Asian nations has run from anemic to shameful. India has traditionally
been content to deal with the regime instead of confronting it because it
covets Burma's natural gas. And China remains the primary economic prop
for the junta.

While Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorists, China has
become the leading state sponsor of common thugs, from Burma to Sudan to
Zimbabwe. It has positioned itself as a great power without the pesky
complication of conscience, willing to court and support any dictator who
supplies a tribute of natural resources. At the same time, it has invited
moral scrutiny by hosting the 2008 Olympics. China will either begin
acting more responsibly in Burma and elsewhere -- abandoning its stated
policy of "noninterference" -- or the Summer Games will become the focus
of human rights complaints about every one of its brutal clients in the
world.

It has become common in recent years to mock the "democracy agenda" as
dreamy and unrealistic. That becomes harder as history focuses our choices
-- in this case, the choice between the junta and the monks, which is
really no choice at all. Burma's revolution of the spirit must succeed.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 28, Conservatives
Crabb: British Government must take action for Burma

Stephen Crabb MP, the Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights
Commission, condemned the Burmese military regime’s crackdown of peaceful
protestors and urged the British Government to “match its rhetoric with
action” in response to the crisis in Burma.

In a statement today, Mr Crabb said: “The people of Burma deserve our most
profound respect and our unflinching support. Their courage in continuing
to defy Burma’s brutal regime even as it fires bullets at them is
inspiring. For the first time in 20 years there is a real opportunity to
bring an end to the brutal and illegal regime which is one of the worst in
the world. The international community must seize this opportunity to
stand with the people of Burma who are risking their lives. We must not
fail them this time.”

Mr Crabb called on the British Government to take concrete steps to
address the situation. “We welcome the strong statements by the Prime
Minister and the Foreign Secretary. However, the Government must match its
rhetoric with action. We urge the UK to take the lead in proposing a UN
Security Council resolution that would set out clear benchmarks of
progress, with deadlines attached. These should include the release of
political prisoners including Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and the
beginning of meaningful dialogue between the regime, the democracy
movement and the ethnic nationalities. The UN should spell out
international sanctions, such as an arms embargo, that could be imposed if
the regime fails to meet the terms of the resolution.”

For further information, please contact the Press Office on 020 7984 8121.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

September 28. The Club of Madrid
Statement of the Club of Madrid regarding the situation in Myanmar

The Club of Madrid, an independent organization made up of more than 60
former heads of State and Government committed to democratic development
around the world, is deeply concerned by the government of Myanmar's
response to peaceful demonstrations in the country.

We call on the government to desist and refrain from the use of force
against unarmed protestors and to respect the rights to freedom of
association and expression.

We further encourage the government to engage the political and social
opposition in a comprehensive national dialogue, to include Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi. She should be released so that she may participate freely.

We strongly encourage the government to begin to work constructively with
Myanmar's people and the international community to improve democracy and
development in the country.

Ricardo Lagos, President
Mary Robinson, Vice President

http://clubmadrid.org/cmadrid/index.php?id=1039

____________________________________

September 28, Statement from Japanese concerned Buddhists

Declaration of solidarity for the Burmese monks, citizens and their peaceful
Demonstrations

We, Japanese Buddhists, would like to express our solidarity, respect and
strong support for the peaceful demonstrations of monks and citizens in
all regions of Burma.

In Burma, this past August, the military government suddenly hiked prices
for fuel. This was adding insult to injury to the impoverished lifestyles
of the people of Burma who have lived under military dictatorship for the
last 19 years. This became a trigger which spurred on anti-government
activities by students and civilians. By the beginning of September, the
Buddhist monastic sangha could no longer bear to see the suffering of the
people, and they began to demonstrate as well. The monks and nuns wanted a
tranquility in which all could live. They engaged in a practice based in a
religious motive and used methods which were very peaceful. However, in
order to block a peace march in the town of Pakokku in Central Burma on
September 5th, the military regime used the national army violently in
reacting to a group of monks. They arrested, detained and also forcibly
disrobed monks.

Taking a firm stance against these violent actions of the military
government, the monks urged the military leaders to reflect on their
actions. They began a campaign called "verturning the bowl"
(patta-nukkujjana kamma), based on a teaching the Buddha, and continued to
show their intentions through protest. For us Buddhists, this nationwide
movement of "verturning the bowl", which denies the military leaders the
opportunity to offer the monks alms and thus to practice as devout lay
people, is a grave act. Since the beginning of the "verturning the bowl"
movement on September 17th, it spread to the capital of Yangon and all
regions of the country. Day after day, this movement grew as from hundreds
to tens of thousands of monks participated in peaceful demonstrations. On
September 22nd, they were able pass by the residence of Aung San Suu Kyi,
still under house arrest, and receive her greeting. The monks as leaders
of the protest movement have been strongly welcomed and received by the
people of Burma. On September 24th, the movement swelled in Yangon to an
anti-military government protest numbering 100,000 people.

Amidst increasing anxiety about the attitude of the military government,
the Burmese monks' activities have tried to persuade through example, and
transform a politics of fear into a politics of compassion by facing the
overwhelming violent power into order to remove the cause of the people's
suffering. While we cannot see what is Burma's future, these activities
are a large development for the future of Buddhism. The actions of the
monks who respect the people have been regulated by the military
government, and so the people have lost their spiritual bearings. When the
monastic sangha cannot practice its activities for the many devout
Buddhist followers in Burma, the people will surely endure great hardship.

In this way, we heartfeltly call upon the government of Myanmar to
immediately cease from these oppressive measures, free the people from
fear, restore social tranquility, and immediately begin to engage in
national reconciliation. We, Japanese Buddhists, will continue to watch
and support the monks' non-violent and democratic movement for Burma.

Network of Buddhist Volunteers on International Cooperation Arigatou
Foundation
FUKUJINN  LABORATORY
HONGE NETWORK LABORATORY (some members)
INEB-J
Network of Women and Buddhism in Kanto Region.
NICHIREN SHU SHIGA KYOUKA CENTER
NICHIREN SHU  TOKYO WEST DISTRICT　KYOUKA  CENTER
Nipponzan Myouhouji
Group of Nenbutsu-sha supporting the article 9
Goupr of Buddhists Learning, Thinking, and Longing Peace
Pippara Scholarship
Terra Net
Research Group on Engaged Buddhism
RENZOKU MUGE NO KAI

____________________________________

September 27, Patriotic War Veterans of Burma
Towards democracy, peace and national unification
A severe condemnation against the Military Regime in Burma

The Patriotic War Veterans of Burma (PWVB) condemns the Military Regime
severely for shooting, killing, wounding and arresting of the innocent
monks, nuns, students and citizens of other walks of life, participating
in peaceful, orderly demonstrations in Rangoon and Mandalay on Sept. 26,
2007. In addition, it is very likely that this kind of brutal suppression
would be carried out in other cities and towns in the country soon.

Instead of using peaceful means and ways to solve the national crisis, the
regime with the ultimate objective of staying in power forever, has taken
its old, favorite way of butchering the innocent people. For this heinous,
well-planned crime, the regime has to take full responsibility for and
face any undesirable consequences.

In addition, amid sincere requests and appeals from a lot of countries
including the United Nations, the regime shamelessly committed such a
serious crime against its own innocent people. For this, our entire people
would report and urge the International Court of Justice to bring each and
every member of the military regime to justice.

The Patriotic War Veterans of Burma (PWVB) also condemns those military
commands and divisional commanders who relayed the shooting order to their
subordinates. They must be brought to justice for their part in hatching
out this infamous crime.

Finally, the Patriotic War Veterans of Burma (PWVB) would like to make an
earnest appeal to all patriots in ‘Tat-ma-daw’ (the armed forces) to join
the people in carrying out the important national tasks until victory is
won.

U. S. Office: 		1149 College St., Apt. 1004 B, Bowling Green, KY 42101-4630
Japan Office: 		1-25-8 Kita-ku Tabata Seifudo 218 Tokyo, Japan 114-0014
Thailand Office:		P.O. Box 152, Mae Sot, Tak 63110, Thailand
E-mail: 			pwvbjacat at yahoo.com

Tel: 61-417-244-614 (Australia)
Tel: 91-987-133-5407 (India)
Tel: 46-21-411-062 (Sweden)
Tel: 8190-3081-9805 / 813-5685-5576 (Japan)
Tel: 66-89-638-6315 (Thailand)
Tel: 1-270-843-5549 (U.S.)