As many as 200 Myanmar monks arrested in raids - Authorities descend on two monasteries after a crackdown on protests kills at least one person.
NEW DELHI — Security forces in Myanmar raided two monasteries early today after a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in which at least one person was killed, according to news and witness accounts trickling out of the closed-off country.
Seeking to prevent a 10th consecutive day of demonstrations against their autocratic rule, the military leaders of Myanmar, also known as Burma, ordered the raid on the two prominent monasteries in the main city of Yangon. As many as 200 Buddhist monks were reportedly arrested.
On Wednesday, dozens of monks were said to have been beaten and dragged off by authorities after defying official warnings by rallying in the center of Yangon. Protests were also reported in Mandalay, Myanmar's second city.
The ruling military junta acknowledged that one man had been killed and three wounded during the standoff in Yangon, but witnesses and overseas dissident groups told news agencies that as many as five people had died of gunshot wounds or other causes amid demonstrations attended by thousands of people.
"They are marching down the streets, with the monks in the middle and ordinary people either side. They are shielding them, forming a human chain," one witness told Reuters news service, as the crowd behind roared its anger at government forces.
By nightfall Wednesday the streets of Yangon appeared to be deserted, under a 9 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew.
The resort to force by Myanmar's secretive government prompted statements of concern and condemnation from around the world.
"If these stories are accurate, the U.S. is very troubled that the regime would treat the Burmese people this way," White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon D. Johndroe said. "We call on the junta to proceed in a peaceful transition to democracy."
President Bush on Tuesday announced new sanctions against Myanmar and urged other world leaders to keep the pressure on.
"The whole world is now watching Burma, and its illegitimate and repressive regime should know that the whole world is going to hold it to account," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. "The age of impunity in neglecting and overriding human rights is over."
After an emergency session Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council called for Myanmar's military government to "exercise restraint" toward peaceful demonstrators. Discussion of sanctions or a formal statement of condemnation were blocked by Russia and China, which said the protests were an internal situation that did not constitute a threat to international peace and security.
