Burma:About 100 Buddhist monks took to the streets in central Burma yesterday in the first protests since pro-democracy demonstrations were bloodily suppressed by troops in late September.
The monks, in the Buddhist religious centre of Pakokku - which provided the spark for the nationwide uprising that left at least 13 dead - marched peacefully through the town for almost an hour, chanting and praying. They shunned overtly political slogans, but two called a dissident radio station to assert that their goals remained the same as those of earlier demonstrators, whose ranks swelled to more than 100,000.
The first flickers of defiance against the crackdown come days before the return of the UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, on Saturday. But analysts doubt that the demonstration will lead to a repeat of the uprising that took place five weeks ago, when at least 3,000 people were arrested.
Yesterday, monks from several monasteries converged and marched three abreast through Pakokku's streets before convening at the Shwegu pagoda. The demonstration began an hour after a staged, pro-government rally in the town.
One monk who called the opposition-run Democratic Voice of Burma station, which is based in Oslo, said: "we are continuing our protest from last month as we have not yet received any of the demands we asked for.
"Our demands are for lower commodity prices, national reconciliation, the immediate release of [ detained pro-democracy leader] Aung San Suu Kyi and all the political prisoners." Big rises in the cost of petrol and diesel in August sparked demonstrations which were put down by the mass arrests of the protest leaders.
But Pakokku's monasteries joined the fray after police fired over the heads of protesting monks and beat other demonstrators on September 6th, spawning the nationwide uprising as thousands of their colleagues took to the streets. Initially they demanded an apology, but the protests became political as their confidence grew.
The return of Mr Gambari just a month after he met the Burmese leader, General Than Shwe, and Aung San Suu Kyi, will buoy hopes that he can persuade the junta to release political prisoners and begin moving towards democracy. - (Guardian service)