Burma military crackdown, death toll higher

September 28, 2007- HE death toll from Burma's crackdown on protesters was much higher than the official number of 10 given by the military regime, Australia's ambassador said.

Ambassador to Burma Bob Davis said the real toll was “several multiples of the 10 acknowledged by the authorities''.

Mr Davis told ABC radio that witnesses reported to embassy officials that they had seen ``significantly more than that number of dead being removed from the scene of the demonstrations in central Yangon (Rangoon) yesterday''.

Mr Davis said the crackdown was a ``completely inappropriate response to peaceful demonstrations'' and said he expected the demonstrations to continue today. ``It's very tense,'' he said.

Eight protesters and a Japanese journalist were killed yesterday as pockets of pro-democracy supporters defied Burmese troop threats of "extreme action" against those who did not leave the streets of Rangoon.

The police and military were out in force again today, patrolling the deserted streets of Rangoon and it was not immediately clear if demonstrators would again gather.
All roads leading to the main pagodas, which have been the focal points of the unrest in the devoutly Buddhist nation, were sealed off with barbed wire and barricades. Most businesses were closed.

Global pressure on the regime ratcheted up today, with Southeast Asian nations demanding that the military junta immediately stop using violence against protesters, and George W. Bush urging China to pressure the regime to move toward democracy.

BANGKOK, Sept. 27 — Beginning the second day of their crackdown on nationwide protests in Myanmar before dawn today, security forces raided at least two Buddhist monasteries, beating and arresting dozens of monks, according to reports from the capital, Yangon.

Facing its most serious challenge since taking power in 1988, the ruling junta is attempting to contain the uprising by tens of thousands of monks who have been at the heart of more than a week of huge demonstrations against economic hardships and the political repression of the military junta.