Myanmar's military arrested more individuals on Wednesday following the departure of a UN envoy who visited the country to address the brutal crackdown on protests that had caused international outrage. Witnesses reported that at least eight truckloads of prisoners were taken from downtown Yangon, where last week's protests against military rule and economic hardship had taken place. In one house near the Shwedagon Pagoda, only a 13-year-old girl remained after her parents were arrested. She mentioned that they were warned not to escape as the authorities might return. The crackdown persisted despite some optimism regarding the progress of UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's efforts to persuade junta chief Than Shwe to ease his control and engage in talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Singapore, as the chair of ASEAN, expressed satisfaction with the Myanmar government's cooperation with Gambari. Gambari, on his way back to New York via Singapore, was set to return to Myanmar in early November, according to UN sources. However, it was uncertain how his mission and international pressure could impact the junta's policies, as they typically ignore outside pressure and rarely admit UN officials. Expectations for significant results from these efforts were low. Georgetown University expert on Myanmar, David Steinberg, believes that the top leadership in Myanmar is too set in their ways to be influenced by outside opinions. He pointed out that the junta claims to be on the path to democracy and questions what more people could want. Steinberg mentioned the junta's "seven-step road to democracy," with the first step being completed in September. This step involved ending a 14-year national convention, which critics argue will further entrench military rule and prevent Suu Kyi from holding office. The recent protests, which have been the largest challenge to the junta's authority in two decades, began as small demonstrations against fuel price increases but escalated after troops used force against a group of monks. The military government stated that they used minimal force to counter the monk-led protests that spread across five city blocks, and claimed that cities like Yangon had returned to normal. The junta reported that 10 people were killed, dismissing other reports of higher casualties and atrocities as false. However, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer agreed with other Western nations that the actual death toll was likely much higher than the official number of 30. Despite this, the junta believes that they have successfully quelled the uprising, removing barricades around key protest sites and easing curfew restrictions. Some monks who were detained in monastery raids were released, with one monk mentioning that 80 out of the 96 detained from his monastery were allowed to return after verbal threats but no physical harm during questioning. Witnesses reported that despite a heavy armed presence in the streets of Yangon and Mandalay, the second largest city, the junta was still sending gangs to search for hiding monks in homes. These raids, labeled as creating a climate of terror by Western diplomats, continued to fuel international anger over the harsh response to peaceful protests. In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council, which includes China, condemned the regime's violent repression and urged the generals to allow the UN human rights envoy to Myanmar to visit for the first time in four years. The envoy reported that thousands of people had been detained. Pinheiro emphasized the importance of revealing the truth about the events that occurred, stating this during the council meeting where a resolution condemning violent acts in Myanmar was adopted. The country accused powerful nations of using the hearing for political gain.