From inside Burma...

[uppityperson]

More stories @ link. Reading the news internet and cell phone services are being cut off and the fear is that news will stop getting out to the rest of the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7011884.stm
THURSDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER

It is 14:30 now and the riot police and army are trying to disperse the crowds on the street. At about 12:30 the whole street was filled with demonstrators. Then the soldiers started to shoot and use tear gas and then they charged with batons and took away some of the protesters. I heard that one person was killed. The crowds were yelling at the soldiers "your task is not to kill us citizens". At about 14:00 about the soldiers advanced towards the road in front of our office shouting through a loudspeaker at the crowds to disperse. The demonstrators went away, probably to another part of the town. There were only about 12 monks leading them. Similar things are happening in other parts of the town where there are protests. There are soldiers in almost all strategic parts of the town trying to disperse the crowd. There is a little restraint still as they give warnings before doing anything and the people have some time to disperse. I hope that things will get better without more bloodshed. Anonymous Rangoon resident

They're beating the crowd in front of Traders Hotel. Around 2,000 were taking part in a peaceful demonstration. There were also monks and people sat down to pay respect. They started the beating as the people sat down to bow. Tear gas were used again. Someone saw 20 trucks full of soldiers heading towards downtown. The junta has begun a full scale war against innocent civilians. Sai, Rangoon

There are many deaths on the streets of Rangoon. There were many deaths by gun-shots but the military is taking away the bodies so that they can hide their inhumane violence on civilians. Now even spectators on the streets, who are not involved in the protests are being shot at. Wai, Rangoon

I live near the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery in south Okkalapa. They came to the monastery last night. Only 20 monks escaped out of 200. One monk from this monastery passed away at the demonstration yesterday. The soldiers came at the middle of the night and beat up the monks. The head monk and the other 19 escaped. They beat the monks and loaded them onto a truck like animals. We could hear gunshots, screams and shouting. Soldiers shouted that they are not just going to shoot in the air, but also on people. Anonymous eyewitness, Rangoon

[uppityperson]

1. More

From the BBC Burmese Service: (At a monastery at midnight) The soldiers ran up to the first floor of the monastery and grabbed the head monk by the neck and dragged him downstairs. They beat up the other monks with batons and sticks. They kicked the sleeping novices to wake them up and ask them if any monks are hiding. The novices are shaking with fear. It is as if they are raiding a rebel camp. Anonymous eyewitness, Rangoon

It's heartbreaking to witness what is happening now. The military have used some force but not at their full potential. They want to scare the people by using force and if protesters don't back down they will step up their actions. It is very important that we do not back down. Once the protests fizzle out, the government will have its chance and all will be put in jail. The state media blames the people for using violence. Well, we just threw stones at them for beating the monks. It's hard to believe that Buddhist solddiers would attack Buddhist monks. The people are angry and sacred, but hopeful. The future of Myanmar (Burma) depends on China. I would like China to restate it's policy of not interfering with internal affairs of other countries. We are in a difficult position. We either go to democracy or back to military dictatorship. Samson, Rangoon

From the BBC Burmese Service: (At around 14:00 local time when soldiers started shooting into the crowd) They have shot several times into the crowd, one person was injured, they used tear gas. Now the injured person is being carried into a car to be taken to hospital. They (the soldiers) are using force on us. Anonymous eyewitness, Rangoon

[uppityperson]

2. Junta tightens media screw

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7016238.stm
Last Updated: Thursday, 27 September 2007, 15:40 GMT 16:40 UK

Junta tightens media screw
By Michael Dobie
BBC News

Screen grab from Burma's state-run English language TV - 27/09/2007
Burma's state-run media blame foreign media for inciting protests
As Burmese soldiers fire bullets and tear gas to disperse anti-government protests in Rangoon, the military rulers have taken the offensive in the battle to control the flow of information in the country.

Websites and internet blogs posting information and photographs of the government's action have been blocked.

Telephone lines and mobile phone signals to monasteries, opposition politicians and student leaders have been cut.

All this has made it more difficult for people to upload pictures of the mass protests to be picked up by international satellite news channels and beamed around the world, including back to Burma....(more@link)

[tekisui]

5. I sit in silent peace with the monks tonight.

[uppityperson]

3. Nine dead after troops fire into crowds of democracy protesters

more@link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2178922,00.html
· Mayhem as crackdown gathers pace on 10th day of protests
· Civilians take to streets after hundreds of monks arrested

Fewer monks were seen on the streets yesterday as up to 500 had been arrested and many others confined to their quarters by soldiers who raided six monasteries around the capital from dawn onwards. Leaders of the National League for Democracy were also rounded up.

Pools of blood remained in monastery dormitories and stairwells where the troops had smashed in windows and doors, and beat the young novices as they lay sleeping. In some raids shots were fired and a senior abbot at Moe Ngway monastery was said to have died later in the afternoon.

The ferocity of the attacks on the monks, the ransacking of monasteries that saw Buddhist relics vandalised and gold looted, according to diplomatic sources, shocked ordinary Burmese people, who revere the clergy.

It set the tone for a day that echoed months of violence in 1988 that ended with the massacre of 3,000 students and monks in a pro-democracy uprising.

Burmese people took to the streets yesterday in protests that were more spontaneous and chaotic than those of the previous days when the monks had taken the lead, both protecting and being protected by their supporters.

[uppityperson]

4. Shot dead trying to show the real picture of Burma

more @ link
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3007114.ece
Images suggest that Japanese video journalist was a victim of Burma's repressive junta
By Claire Soares
Published: 28 September 2007

Dodging the bloodstained sandals and the panic-stricken masses who fled troops near Sule Pagoda in the centre of the Burmese capital Rangoon yesterday, Kenji Nagai kept his camera rolling, recording vital footage of Burma's closed society and providing a lifeline to the outside world for the protesting monks and civilians who were risking their lives for much-needed change.

Then, in one dreadful moment, the Japanese video journalist took a bullet in the chest – almost certainly from the gun of a Burmese soldier.

We cannot be certain of the exact circumstances in which Mr Nagai died, but a series of pictures appears to suggest he was callously gunned down, a victim of the repressive junta who are almost as keen to quell the worldwide media coverage of the protests as they are to quell the protests themselves. Burmese state television has been running news bulletins accusing global broadcasters of pumping out a "Skyful of lies".

It fell to Mr Nagai's father to identify his son, who was working for the Japanese news agency APF News, from photos and videos taken in the street where he was killed. Japan has lodged a protest with the Burmese authorities. Mr Nagai was one of at least nine people known to have been killed in Rangoon yesterday. There may have been more. It seems unlikely that they will have been the last.

[tekisui]

6. UP--thank you for the updates. I've been following along.

[uppityperson]

9. Thanks, not much news on them here, figured would add to it a little

Incredible what is going on there. Brave people.

[uppityperson]

7. Burma repeats the revolt of '88 - the outcome is unlikely to be any happier

of course more @ link
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3007118.ece
By Peter Popham in Bangkok
Published: 28 September 2007

As the Burmese military crackdown on the monks' protests intensifies, the parallels with the events that culminated in the massacres of 1988 are becoming starker.

The present crisis began last month when the regime raised fuel prices by up to 50 per cent overnight, making everyday life for the impoverished Burmese impossible. The crisis of '88 began with a similar crass act of economic folly, when dictator General Ne Win demonetarised high-value currency notes with equal suddenness, wiping out the savings of millions of Burmese without compensation.

In 2007, as in 1988, visceral fury at a regime that cares nothing for the suffering of the people it rules has mutated rapidly into a broader expression of political exasperation. Ne Win seized power in 1962 and his so-called "Burmese Way to Socialism" transformed Asia's rice basket into a country whose main goal in 1987 – one it achieved – was to obtain "least-developed nation" status at the United Nations. For the rebels, economic hardship and political frustration were two sides of the same coin. Nineteen years on, little has changed.

The generals continue to plunder the wealth of the country for their own profit, operating a vast underground economy based on drugs, gems, timber and gas. None of the wealth trickles down to the ordinary Burmese, who are still Asia's poorest of the poor. And the monks who crucially seized the initiative in these latest protests know this in their stomachs. To survive they depend on receiving alms from ordinary people – who are less and less able to give. What they used to get from four or five houses, now takes 30 to 35.

The last time round the protests went on for months almost entirely out of the eye of the Western media, until attacks on government property during a demonstration in March 1988 provoked a ferocious reaction where tanks came onto the streets and around 100 civilians were killed. Despite that, the students who led the protests refused to be cowed and their continuing protests ushered in Burma's hallucinatory "summer of democracy", when deliverance really did appear to be at hand. In early August, student leaders called for a general strike, the ousting of the ruling generals, release of political prisoners, restoration of democracy and an end to human rights abuses: pretty much the same as what this week's protesters demand.

[uppityperson]

8. Junta restricts internet access

more@link
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3007117.ece
By Alastair Scrutton
Published: 28 September 2007

A "window of information" is closing in Burma as the junta fights networks of disaffected citizens by restricting mobile phones and internet access, a leading dissident journalist said yesterday. The biggest anti-junta protests in two decades in one of the world's most closed states has been broadcast around the world thanks to exiled journalists in countries such as Thailand and India.

So far citizen reporters have managed to send information and photos to external news outlets across the internet, even using the social networking site Facebook or hiding news in e-greetings cards to outwit the military government.

Pictures of monks and civilians marching and the response by security forces are on TV screens around the world in hours. It all contrasts with Burma's last major uprising, in 1988, when as many as 3,000 people were killed by soldiers firing on crowds but it took days for the news to emerge.

It could soon change. "The window of information is closing," said Soe Myint, editor-in-chief of the internet-based Mizzima news agency. "It's getting more and more difficult. Many blogging sites are now blocked and opposition activists have had their mobile phones cut."

[nam78_two]

10. K&R.nt

[uppityperson]

11. Evacuations planned for Aussies in Burma

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/australians-set-to-flee-burma/2007/09/28/1190486520736.html
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Australia's embassy in Rangoon has contingency evacuation plans if the situation deteriorates amid the Burmese military regime's bloody crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

Tens of thousands of people have joined Buddhist monks and nuns over the past week protesting against Burma's repressive military regime. Burma state media has reported the government's crackdown on the protests have so far left at least nine people dead. Mr Downer's comments come as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had addressed Burma's representative directly during talks with Southeast Asian officials on the violent crackdown.

Mr Downer today told ABC Radio it wasn't known just how many Australians were in Burma, but there were not believed to be many and so far there had been no reports of any of them getting into difficulties....
(clip)
But the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said the Government should go further and immediately stop free trade negotiations with ASEAN nations. AMWU president Julius Roe said it would be hypocritical for Australia to continue to deal with the Burmese regime via the negotiations.

"We cannot say we will put financial sanctions on Burma and then on the other hand sign up to a free trade agreement through ASEAN," Mr Roe said in a statement. "All free trade agreements provide tactic approval to the activities of the governments involved, including their labour practices and human rights records.

[Akoto]

12. As a person, and especially as a Buddhist ...

This is tearing me up. The monks are peaceful, and people I revere. To think that they're being loaded into trucks and/or shot ... :cry:

[uppityperson]

14. I know. It is just amazing, what they are doing, what they are risking and sacrificing.

[buzzard]

26. I find it quite disheartening as well I have often thought that if I were to choose a religion it

would be Buddhism because any religion that causes no harm would be one I would want to affiliate with.

[conscious evolution]

27. Buddhism is not a religon

It is a way of life.

[buzzard]

28. Yes you are right I expressed that poorly. I think I am a de facto Buddhist by choices I make.

[uppityperson]

13. Olympic boycott threatened as Burma death toll climbs

This one is a good story on the whole thing, including where is Suu Kyi.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1549412007
BURMA'S political crisis was thrust to the front of the international stage yesterday following the shooting death of a Japanese journalist and an explicit threat from the EU's most powerful political grouping that China's 2008 Olympics faces boycott unless it intervenes against the country's ruling junta...
(clip)
AS PROTESTERS were attacked in the streets of Rangoon yesterday, the fate and whereabouts of their political figurehead, Aung San Suu Kyi, were still unknown. Earlier rumours that the Nobel peace prize-winner had been taken from her Yangon residence, where she has been held under house arrest for much of the past 18 years, to the notorious Insein prison, seemed to have been unfounded. However, while the military may not have taken her to jail, the leader of the National League for Democracy remains effectively silenced....(more)

Internet and guile stop army winning information war

DESPITE attempts by the Burmese military to muzzle press coverage, the internet, text messages and in some cases mobile phones have been vital in passing information to the outside world. The military regime controls all internet use through two state-run providers and restricts web access with software that limits what can be viewed. Use of e-mail systems like Hotmail and Yahoo is banned, though Burmese people and expatriates alike have reported still being able to use Google's gmail service. Such is the severity of censorship that it is illegal to own an unregistered modem...

[uppityperson]

15. Bono appeals for prayers for Burma (I couldn't resist this article)

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g7kPhzdiwJmGRNP5v2GiN58kX9Dw
Rock star Bono has said he is praying for the Burmese people and called for everyone to lend them their support. The U2 frontman said he had "slept uneasily" after seeing the extraordinary pictures of the violence in the country.He said: "It is extraordinary to see the Buddhist monks isn't it? Their non-violence may, I pray, win out over the ugliness of the situation."

He continued: "There is jeopardy. I slept uneasily last night and I'm sure everyone else that watched did too.How far are they going to have to go?"

Bono said the situation did not belong to the 21st century. The singer, speaking at the London premiere of movie Across the Universe, said he had met and corresponded with Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader of the opposition the National League for Democracy Party.

He said: "I have a little bit of a relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi. I've met her family and corresponded with her. U2 actually wrote a song - Walk On - for her. I've always followed her progress and that of the Burmese people." He added: "She is a study in grace and they are a study in patience." Bono said everyone should offer their support to the Burmese people.

[uppityperson]

16. U.S. Doubles Broadcasts to Myanmar (to get more news in)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/27/AR2007092701814.html
WASHINGTON -- Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have doubled their broadcasts to Myanmar in response to the military-run government's crackdown on protesters.

The two U.S. broadcasters made the change Wednesday, but it was announced Thursday by the agency that oversees them. Voice of America increased Burmese language programs from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours daily; Radio Free Asia boosted broadcasts from 2 to 4 hours daily.

"The Burmese people are starving for accurate information, both about the world's reaction to their struggle for democracy and also about what is happening in their own land," said James K. Glassman, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the federal government agency that oversees both VOA and RFA. "Our expanded Burmese-language broadcasts are more important than ever in satisfying this hunger." ...(more)

[Uncle Joe]

17. I wish the military over there would enlighten them selves and get up enough courage to

free their own people.

Thanks for the thread uppityperson

[uppityperson]

18. Me too. 1 more...Asean demands Burmese junta to stop crackdown

http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/28/regional/regional_30050559.php
UNITED NATIONS--The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which Burma also a member, demanded the military junta to immediately desist form the use of violence against demonstrators. The military junta admitted that its troops killed at least nine people during the crackdown to the massive protest.

Foreign Ministers of the regional grouping met on Thursday on the side line of the United Nations General Assembly to take common position over the crisis in Burma. They expressed their revulsion to Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win over reports that the demonstrations were being suppressed by violent force and that there been a number of fatalities.

Singaporean foreign minister George Yeo, as the chair of the group, issued a statement after the meeting calling Burma to "exercise utmost restraint and seek a political solution."

They called upon Myanmar to resume its efforts at the national reconciliation with all parties concerned, and work towards a peaceful transition to democracy. The Asean ministers also called for the release of all political detainees including Aung San Suu Kyi, minister Yeo said in a read out statement. With the support from the Asean, the United Nations special envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari got a green right to land in Burma as Nyan Win assured the meeting that his visa would be used in Singapore....(more)

[uppityperson]

19. I'm begging, 1 more recommendation please? I just think Burma stuff is important. Thanks

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. You got it. Thanks for the post. K&R

[uppityperson]

21. thanks, I hate doing that but you know? For the Burmese

[Feron]

22. K&R

Great post! Thank you uppityperson for this thread. :)

[FloridaJudy]

23. Another photo

Front page of the NYT today: this one belongs with the student in Tienanmen square.

To reprise a chant from the sixties "The whole world is watching".
It's even more true today.

[Swamp Rat]

24. k&r

:kick:

[Pachamama]

30. Praying for Peace and that the monks and people of Burma get their country back

:hug:

[yellerpup]

25. Be a witness. Pray for peace.

K&R! The world is watching.

[Desertrose]

29. K&R

This is really the beginning of something big.

I pray there won't be many more deaths.......so sad...and they are so brave.

[Raksha]

31. K & R - Is there some way we can get some food to them right away?

Especially for the monks who have to depend on charity for subsistance. I'd like to donate if anyone is taking up a collection.

[Hardrada]

32. I would contribute to this.

Let me know if some useful agency is available.

[Norrin Radd]

33. kick

[annabanana]

34. k&r. . . n/t

[uppityperson]

35. Fri am news.. Reports from Inside Burma (shots, internet cut off...)

http://blog.syracuse.com/newstracker/2007/09/reports_from_inside_burma.html
E-mails to the BBC from inside Burma: "I hear right now that shooting is still going on near our office."

Ko htike's prosaic collection by a London who posts photos and accounts from inside the country: "... internet has been cut off. i am trying to get news, i will update as soon as i know."

Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents by Reports Without Borders: "Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. "
(links to stories @ link above)

[uppityperson]

36. Military trying to stop protest movement and cover up repression

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10429&size=A
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Despite killings, arrests and beatings overnight and fewer demonstrators in the streets, protests continue in Myanmar. Speaking to a foreign radio station, some monks said they had formed a "united front" of clergy, students and activists to continue the struggle whilst unconfirmed reports indicate some dissent in the military. In the meantime a plethora of statements are being issued by foreign governments and international organisations albeit with different points view. The junta’s friends, above all China and India, have expressed some criticism but remain cautious.

In Yangon an estimated 10,000 people gathered at midday near the Sule Pagoda, a flashpoint for the past 10 days. After police issued a verbal warning and fired warning shots, the crowd scattered. But the military government seems as concerned about foreign coverage of the events and the dissemination of images as it is about stopping protests. It is also worried about the rare cases of disobedience by soldiers who refuse to beat or shoot at people.

Sources told AsiaNews that troops are trying to force young people into the army, offering them money. Others have mentioned seeing troops under the influence of drugs.

In an attempt to stop news from getting out all internet points have been shut down; official reason: faulty undersea cables. This way, officials can justify cutting off private internet access. All this, plus a crackdown on journalists, is raising fears of an even greater campaign of repression. Still the military did make a small concession by granting UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari a visa to enter the country and look at the situation....(more)

[uppityperson]

37. US Blasts Myanmar for Silencing Internet (broken clock is right twice/day)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/28/national/w083905D15.DTL&type=politics
The White House criticized Myanmar on Friday for cutting off Internet access and called on "all civilized nations" to pressure the military-run government to end its violent crackdown on protesters.

"They don't want the world to see what is going on there," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said....

[uppityperson]

38. BBC emails, humanitarian crisis, communications cut.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7011884.stm

I am in regular contact with my family and friends in Burma. There is a humanitarian crisis happening there at the moment. Because of the demonstrations, the street vendors and stalls selling vegetables and cooked food are no longer to be found on the streets of Rangoon. People are scared to go out to buy food. Most don't have proper cooking facilities and rely of cheap food sold on the streets. The mains water is foul and undrinkable and everyone relies on five gallon purified water bottles. They are not being delivered at the moment. The curfew is hurting the Muslim population quite badly. During Ramadan, the myriad street restaurants are thronged in the evening and early in the morning when large extended families would be eating together. Now they have to cope in their in home with whatever facilities are available. The increased fuel costs have almost doubled the cost of all essentials. John, UK

A group of more than 50 soldiers and riot police just passed in front of our office. They are planning something but I do not know what. About 14:00 I saw a group of protesters - about 30 people - being arrested and prepared to be taken somewhere else by soldiers with green scarfs. They were also forced to squat with their hands behind their heads like prisoners. Teargas was used but I heard no gun shots. One of my colleague just told me that there is a large group of protesters in another part of town. He said that they were swearing at the riot police. The internet is down since last night. People are saying that the government did this to prevent Burmese people sending information to foreign media about what's going on in the country. Only a handful of people, including me, have access to the internet as embassies and big companies have their own satelite links for the internet. Myat, Rangoon

Now all the internet connections and phone lines are cut. The government worries that we will send evidence of their terrible acts to the outside world. Our people are sad and angry with this government. We are all suffering from their terrible rule. But we don't have the capacity to do anything against them. If we do something, we will be killed and our families will suffer. We don't have any choice, because we are born in Myanmar (Burma). We know it will be over one day. We only wish this day will come soon. B L, Rangoon

(more)

[uppityperson]

39. On different ethnics groups and why communication is VERY important

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1360718.php/Rebels_may_hijack_pro-democracy_movement_in_Myanmar

Rebels may hijack pro-democracy movement in Myanmar

Moreh (Myanmar-India Border), Sep 28 (IANS) The military crackdown on protesting monks in Myanmar is stoking public anger against the junta with fears that several ethnic rebel armies in the impoverished nation could hijack the pro-democracy movement.
(clip)
The country of 47 million people is home to about 25 ethnic guerrilla groups fighting for separate homelands. The recent chaos in Myanmar could well propel some of the groups to capitalise on the developments.

(clip)
The current uprising led by Buddhist monks, pro-democracy activists and thousands of ordinary people is reminiscent of the failed popular insurrection in 1988 when the junta crushed the movement in which some 3,000 people were killed. But unlike in 1988, the current pro-democracy movement in Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, has an edge with the recent turmoil filtering to the rest of the world with visual images sent through e-mail and mobile telephones.

'In 1988, the junta did whatever they wanted as there was no way news or photographs reached the outside world. Now with technological advancement, newspapers and TV stations are showing the brutal attacks on ordinary people almost in

[uppityperson]

41. Burma troops surround monasteries

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22501622-2703,00.html

BURMESE troops have occupied key Buddhist monasteries to confine monks who spearheaded protests against 45 years of military rule, raising concerns they may be preparing to intensify a crackdown that has killed at least 13 people.

(clip bits of some monastaries)

Burma's military rulers declared no-go zones around five key Buddhist monasteries, diplomats said yesterday. Authorities called in Southeast Asian diplomats on Thursday to inform them of the "danger zones" around five Buddhist shrines, including the key protest sites at the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas in Rangoon, one of the diplomats said.

(clip)
There are few foreign journalists in Burma, but people treat them as saviours, encouraging them to get the story and the pictures out.

[libnnc]

40. Kick

[uppityperson]

42. Thanks. My cynical take is they are taking communication down, then going to crack down hard.

Good morning. Doing a quick check in and posting this stuff. We need to be aware, otherwise, well, we're unaware, and what is happening may end up either freeing Burma or another big massacre. Thanks for the kick.

[uppityperson]

44. Myanmar breaks up rallies, cuts Internet (like this)

http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/294635.html

Soldiers clubbed and dragged away activists while firing tear gas and warning shots to break up demonstrations Friday before they could grow, and the government cut Internet access, raising fears that a deadly crackdown was set to intensify.

Troops also occupied Buddhist monasteries in a bid to clear the streets of Myanmar's revered monks, who have spearheaded the demonstrations.

The government said 10 people have been killed since the violence began earlier this week, but diplomats say the toll is likely much higher. Dissident groups have put the number as high as 200, although that number could not be verified...(more)

[uppityperson]

45. Or this: Severing of internet link censors killings

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22500187-401,00.html

THE Burmese junta appeared to have cut the country's main internet link yesterday, choking off information about the crackdown on mass anti-government protests that have left at least 13 people dead.

A day after security forces smashed cameras and mobile phones, beat people carrying them and warned the media about its reporting, the internet that helped tell the world about the violence was at a standstill.

A Burmese telecoms official blamed a damaged underwater cable. "The internet is not working because the underwater cable is damaged," an official with Myanmar Post and Telecoms said. The internet service in Burma, renamed Myanmar by the junta, is tightly controlled and only sporadically available normally.

People with cameras and mobiles have been beaten and their gear smashed, making it harder almost by the hour to report on the suppression of the protests against 40 years of military rule and growing economic hardship

[libnnc]

46. I listened to a brief BBC report this morning

not good.

This is horrible. No communications at all...no clean water, no food...:cry:

edit to add:

there was mention of the military busing in "agitators" to keep the crowds off of the streets?

Sickening.

[uppityperson]

47. Thanks for listening, I haven't yet. Sickening indeed.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

43. Horrifying!!!

Simply, horrifying. :cry:

[Theres-a]

48. Kick. nt

[Theres-a]

49. One more

This story is breaking my heart.I'll vote for whichever candidate denounces this atrocity.