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| Burmese military threaten monks | Burmese military threaten monks |
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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, the minister for religion, issued the warning as Rangoon saw the largest march yet. | Brig Gen Thura Myint Maung, the minister for religion, issued the warning as Rangoon saw the largest march yet. |
| He warned monks not to go against Buddhist "rules and regulations". | He warned monks not to go against Buddhist "rules and regulations". |
| Monks are highly revered in Burma and any move by the junta to crush their demonstrations would spark an outcry. | 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 suppressed the last democracy uprising in 1988, killing some 3,000 people, correspondents say. | |
| The monks had called for the entire country to join them in their campaign to overthrow the government, which began eight days ago, and 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. | |
| Crackdown fears | |
| Monday's marches are a show of defiance unthinkable just a few weeks ago, BBC Asia correspondent Andrew Harding reports. | |
| PROTESTS MOUNT 15 Aug: Junta doubles fuel prices, sparking protests5 Sept: Troops injure several monks at a protest in Pakokku17 Sept: The junta's failure to apologise for the injuries draws fresh protests by monks18-21 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 Rangoon23 Sept: Up to 20,000 march in Rangoon24 Sept: New Rangoon march draws at least 50,000 and 24 other towns join in Q&A: Protests in Burma Send us your comments | |
| 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 pinned small pieces of monks' robes on to their clothing, some of them weeping. They included officials from the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. | |
| Two well-known actors, comedian Zargana and film star Kyaw Thu, encouraged the Rangoon marchers early in the day by going to the golden Shwedagon Pagoda to offer them food and water. | |
| 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 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. | |
| Detained leader | |
| On Saturday, monks marched to greet Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, but access to her home was barred on Sunday, and again on Monday. | |
| 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. | |
| Return | |
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