Burma's Monks Defy Crackdown

Junta warns of action against protests
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 25, 2007 6:30 AM CDT
Burma's Monks Defy Crackdown
Myanmar Buddhist monks gather and pray at Shwedagon pagoda before taking up the street in a march protesting against the military government Monday, Sept. 24, 2007 in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's religious affairs minister warns Buddhist clergy to restrain demonstrating monks, or else government will...   (Associated Press)

Pro-democracy protests in Myanmar continued for an eighth day today, with tens of thousands of  Buddhist monks, joined by students, taking to the streets in Yangon in defiance of government orders. The ruling junta threatened Monday night to crack down on the demonstrations, instructing the monks to return to their monasteries, the AP reports.

Protests yesterday swelled to 100,000, the biggest challenge since a pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed 19 years ago. Military trucks with loudspeakers drove around the capital today warning residents not to join the march.  President Bush is expected to announce sanctions against the military regime in his speech before the United Nations today, CNN reports. (More Burma protest stories.)

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