Monks stage protest march in Myanmar

The Associated Press September 28, 2008

YANGON, Myanmar: About 100 Buddhist monks in a western Myanmar city staged a peaceful protest march to mark the anniversary of the bloody crackdown last year on pro-democracy demonstrators.

Meanwhile, in the country's biggest city, Yangon, recently released political prisoners helped celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the party led by the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The police and other security personnel kept a close watch Saturday on the headquarters of the party, the National League for Democracy.

No protests directly related to the anniversary of the crackdown were noted in Yangon, where the demonstrations last year drew up to 100,000 people. The junta put down the protests with force, killing at least 31 and detaining thousands.

But in the western port city of Sittwe, about 100 Buddhist monks marched peacefully in heavy rain for about 30 minutes, according to witnesses who asked not to be named for fear of being harassed by the authorities.

The monks' march took the form of their morning round of begging for alms, but it is widely understood that such a large number of monks marching in an organized fashion represents a veiled protest.

In Yangon, six truckloads of riot police officers with shields and batons were deployed near the opposition party offices. People attending the ceremony there were videotaped and watched by at least 50 plainclothes security personnel.

The ceremony, attended by about 350 people, including National League for Democracy members, diplomats and reporters, was also a homecoming for Win Tin, a senior party member who was freed last week after 19 years in jail.

In an anniversary statement, the party reiterated its call for the immediate release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi - who has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest - and her deputy, Tin Oo. It also called for the freedom of Buddhist monks and ethnic leaders arrested by the junta.

The National League for Democracy was founded in 1988 after an abortive pro-democracy uprising and since then has faced nearly constant harassment from the ruling junta. When the party's candidates won a majority in general elections in 1990, the military refused to let it take power.

Separately on Saturday, the so-called Group of Friends, which includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, called on the ruling junta to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to start talks with the opposition.