voyager1970 » 28 сен 2007, 18:32
Two Shot in Clash with Troops; People with Cameras Singled Out
September 28, 2007
At least two people were hit by gunfire when military troops opened fire on demonstrators on Friday afternoon in Kyauktada Township in central Rangoon, according to a witness, who said she narrowly escaped by hiding under a vehicle.
The demonstrators were boxed in between Anawrahta Road and Maha Bandoola Road, she said. Dozens of protesters were arrested, bound and beaten. The troops pursued fleeing people into buildings, she said, singling out people with cameras.
If they were captured, she said, the troops beat them while shouting, “Is it you who sends those pictures out?”
A Japanese cameraman, Kenji Nagai of the video agency APF News, was shot and killed on Thursday during a demonstration near Sule Pagoda. He appeared to have been shot point blank by a soldier while he was lying face up on the street.
In other news, Internet access to Burma was cut off by the regime today.
The flow of internet information out of Burma stopped around 3 p.m.
Representatives who were elected in the 1990 elections that were nullified by the junta led a demonstration march in Rangoon around noon Friday, on the third day of public protests in which military authorities have killed at least nine people. The number of injured is unknown, but easily numbers in the hundreds.
Australian Ambassador Bob Davis told CNN that he believed the true death toll ran into "multiples" of the official military figure.
Protestors shouted slogans such as "Give Us Freedom" and called for an end to the junta and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 11 of the past 18 years.
Scattered protest occurred Rangoon, with many protesters throwing stones and taunting the soldiers.
Rangoon residents are still in shock over violent attacks on at least three Rangoon monasteries early Thursday morning, in which an estimated 700 monks were arrested and taken to an unknown location by security forces. Many monks were severely beaten, and the monasteries were splattered with blood.
Security forces declared a "no-go" zone around five key monasteries in Rangoon, diplomats told The Associated Press on Friday. Diplomats were told the security forces have the monks under control and would now turn their attention to citizen protestors.
Security forces and soldiers began moving troops and equipment into place during the early morning hours on Friday.
About 10 fire trucks took up positions around Rangoon’s City Hall, and about 12 empty military trucks were positioned at Bandoola Park, according to witnesses.
A main road leading to Sule Pagoda in central Rangoon was blocked off with barbed wire.
Authorities also positioned security forces at Kandawgyi Park and the Livestock and Fisheries office in Kyeemyindaing Township, witnesses said.
Central Rangoon was the scene of repeated gunfire on Thursday as security forces tried to disperse tens of thousands of people calling for democracy and a free Burma. Hundreds of people were arrested and taken away to unknown locations.
In Mandalay, military troops raided Pauk Myaing Monastery around 7:30 p.m. On Thursday while about 50 monks were praying in front of a Buddha statue, said sources close to the monastery.
The monks were knelling in prayer when attacked, beaten with batons and kicked with boots before being taken away by troops. The source said numerous monks were bleeding from the beatings. Most of the monks were arrested, but a few managed to escape.
When news of the raid spread, monks at other local monasteries started collecting weapons such as knives, spears and slingshots in an effort to defend themselves from raiding troops, the source said.
The monks said they will defend themselves if security forces attack their monasteries, and they urged the public to join them.
The UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is on his way to Burma and could arrive by Saturday, one Western diplomat told the AP. There is hopeful speculation that Gambari might play a role in some type of dialogue between the generals and opposition groups that could curtail the violence.
Also on Thursday, Burma’s Karen National Union issued a call for all ethnic ceasefire groups to rise up against the Burmese regime in solidarity with the people of Rangoon and Mandalay.
The Shan State Army-South, whose forces are defending areas of southeastern Burma against the Burmese army, also voiced its support for monks and other protesters resisting the regime's efforts to stamp out the rising opposition to its rule.
The KNU, in a statement issued on Thursday from its headquarters in Kawthoole, called on government troops to turn their guns on the ruling generals.
Carpe Diem
"He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future."
-- George Orwell
