Burmese Leader Summons Commanders to Emergency Meeting – Website
Text of report in English by Thailand-based Burmese publication Irrawaddy website on 25 September
[Report by Saw Yan Naing from the "Latest News" Section: "Top Brass Reportedly Meets as Mass Protests Continue"]
Mass demonstrations continued across Burma on Tuesday, as junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe was reported to have summoned military commanders to an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis.
Soldiers eye on protesting monks from behind barricades in Rangoon on September 25 Following an eighth day of demonstrations in Rangoon, around a dozen trucks carrying armed troops and police were seen heading into the heart of the city, taking up positions around the City Hall.
About 30,000 monks and 70,000 members of the public marched through downtown Rangoon on Tuesday, ignoring warnings by the regime that legal action would be taken against demonstrators. Loudspeaker vehicles toured the streets broadcasting the warning, as crowds headed for the Shwedagon Pagoda for the start of a mass procession to the Sule Pagoda in the city centre.
The demonstration passed off peacefully, although The Associated Press reported that five truckloads of troops were seen heading downtown after the procession had ended.
About 200 members of the opposition National League for Democracy took part in the demonstration, together with members of the All Burma Federation of Students’ Unions. The students waved the “fighting peacock” flag, a symbol of their struggle against the military regime.
The NLD issued a statement on Tuesday supporting the monks and calling for a start to a process of national reconciliation.
A joint statement issued on Tuesday by the Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks and the 88-Generation Students group urged the public to join monks in calling for national reconciliation, the release of all political prisoners and an improvement in the living standards of the people.
The monks and their supporters would not yield before threats of a military crackdown, the statement said.
A separate statement issued on Tuesday by the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament in Burma called for even greater pressure on the regime to establish democracy in the country. The statement urged younger people and students to throw their support behind the protest movement.
Monks and their supporters also continued their protests in other cities and towns across the country.
In Mandalay, Burma’s traditional centre of Buddhism, about 10,000 monks marched through the city. Demonstrations were also held in Mon, Arakan and Kachin states.
The Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks said that more than 300,000 monks had turned out in nationwide protests on Monday – conflicting with a claim by the regime that only 2 per cent of Burma’s 400,000 monks were taking part in the demonstrations.
Originally published by Irrawaddy website, Chiang Mai, in English 25 Sep 07.
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