At least 200 monks have been arrested in Myanmar during night-time raids on monasteries not long before sunrise. Government forces began to crack down on protesters after several days of peaceful demonstrations, but despite the violent treatment from military personnel, the monks returned to the streets in the morning.
100 monks were taken by security forces when they raided a monastery at Ngwe Kyaryan. "Only two or three sick monks were left behind", a witness near the monastery said. Some reports state that shots have been fired at demonstrators, with one "collapsing", but it's not known if the individual was shot.
"There are fire trucks, water cannons positioned in a number of places - there are about three of them outside city hall. There are a number of prison vans also to be seen in certain places", said Mark Canning, the British ambassador in Rangoon.
The United States and European Union have said that they are deeply troubled by events, issuing a statement calling on the United Nations Security Council to consider sanctions, but China and Russia do not believe sanctions will "be helpful" and immediately dismissed the call, calling the situation a matter for the "internal government" of Myanmar.

"France will not accept the gagging of Burma's opposition", said Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, who also said that "[the Security Council] expressed their concern vis-a-vis the situation, and have urged restraint, especially from the government of Myanmar." 
Have an opinion on this story? Share it!
Share this: 






This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Hundreds of monks arrested in monastery raids; continue protests