BURMESE MILITARY THREATENS MONKS !

Buddhist monks march through Ahlone, a Rangoon suburb, on 24 September.
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Burma's ruling military junta has warned it is ready to "take action" against Buddhist monks leading mounting protests, state media have reported. Brig Gen Thura Myint Maung, minister for religion, warned them not to break Buddhist "rules and regulations" as Rangoon saw the largest march yet. He blamed the protests on "destructive elements" opposed to peace in Burma. Monks are highly revered in Burma and any move by the junta to crush their demonstrations would spark an outcry.

Map of Rangoon showing locations in the democracy march

The military government has so far showed restraint against the protests but there are fears of a repeat of 1988, correspondents say, when the last democracy uprising was crushed by the military and some 3,000 people were killed.
Some monks' representatives had called for the entire country to join them in their campaign to overthrow the government, which began eight days ago. Monday saw marches in at least 25 towns and cities, including Mandalay, Sittwe and Pakokku. Turnout estimates in Rangoon, Burma's biggest city, range from 50,000 to 100,000. According to state media, the minister for religion spoke after meeting senior members of the Buddhist clergy, whom he warned to control the militant young monks who appear to be leading the current street protests.

PROTESTS MOUNT

15 Aug: Junta doubles fuel prices, sparking protests
5 Sept: Troops injure several monks at a protest in Pakokku
17 Sept: The junta's failure to apologise for the injuries draws fresh protests by monks
18-21 Sept: Daily marches by monks in Burmese cities gradually gather in size
22 Sept: 1,000 monks march to the home of Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon
23 Sept: Up to 20,000 march in Rangoon
24 Sept: New Rangoon march draws at least 50,000 and 24 other towns join in

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In the first public response by the junta to the mass protests, he said action would be taken against the monks' protest marches "according to the law if they cannot be stopped by religious teachings". No further details were forthcoming, but there was no hint of reconciliation in the government's message, BBC Asia correspondent Andrew Harding reports. State television said the demonstrations of the past week were being fomented by communists and exiled media and student groups.
Our correspondent says Monday's marches are a show of defiance unthinkable just a few weeks ago. Five columns of monks, one reportedly stretching for more than 1km (0.6 miles), entered the city centre to cheers and applause from thousands of bystanders. Civilians who joined in included officials from the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The authorities are likely to be under huge pressure from their close neighbour China to avoid bloodshed and instability, our correspondent notes. But if the demonstrations continue, he adds, the generals may see their authority ebb away and their options narrow.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has urged the military not to react with violence to the protests. In a statement from the Tibetan government-in-exile, in Dharamsala in India, he said he fully supported the monks' call for freedom and democracy. The White House has urged Burma's rulers to show restraint and seek dialogue with "those seeking freedom". UK Ambassador Mark Canning said Burma's leaders were now in uncharted territory and he expressed concern about a possible government counter-reaction. "That... would be a disaster, although in terms of probability it, I'm afraid, ranks quite high," he told the BBC.

A hard-core group of more than 1,000 of the maroon-robed monks and 400 sympathisers went to Aung San Suu Kyi's street at the end of Monday's march, the Associated Press reported. They chanted a prayer for peace in the face of the riot police blocking access to her home, where she is under house arrest, before dispersing peacefully. Monks have been urging Burmese people to hold 15-minute evening prayer vigils.

The organisation that has emerged to lead the protests, the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks, has vowed to continue marches until it has "wiped the military dictatorship from the land". The protests were triggered by the government's decision to double the price of fuel last month, hitting people hard in the impoverished nation.

BBC NEWS REPORT.