Military in Myanmar opened fire on rioting monks by Corina Ciubotaru

It started out as a call to lower oil prices but now, it's turning into a battle. Military-led Myanmar is in the middle of a historical event, as monks continue to protest on the streets of Yangon. The junta imposed curfew and said people aren't allowed to gather in groups bigger than five but the protests continued, so today the military opened fire and the police took away dozens of monk. Some monks stated a few days ago that the marches wouldn't stop until the junta fell, which is what everybody wants, except for the military government, obviously. International voices raging from Dalai Lama to President Bush have expressed their disagreement of the way this situation has been handled and urged the government to negotiate with the protesters. Neighboring countries like China, India and Thailand are also watching the situation very carefully and have issued declarations calling for negotiation and peace. The United States took measures against the government of Myanmar, like creating a visa ban for an unlimited period of time for the rulers and their families. In 1988, the Asian country faced a similar challenge when students started rioting. That movement ended in bloodshed and neither the international community nor the people of Myanmar want to see that again. Monks are revered people in the country, which makes the decision to open fire at them that much more significant. Some think the international community should start to intervene in this crisis, or else things will get worse and the region will be unstable for many years to come.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_on_re_as/myanmar;_ylt=Am_6RmciGfCKV6uxHawdCoSs0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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