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YANGON : Defiant pro-democracy supporters staged a new protest on Wednesday against Myanmar's military government, despite a crackdown on dissent that has drawn sharp condemnation from US President George W. Bush.
The latest protest took place in the small town of Bogale, in the impoverished Irrawaddy delta region, about 125 kilometres southwest of Yangon, according to the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
"Hundreds of people were listening to the speeches in front of the main market" in Bogale, NLD spokesman Myint Thein said.
The rally lasted more than four hours until authorities broke up the crowd around 12:30 pm (0600 GMT), he added.
"The people participating in the protests are just expressing their demands peacefully. They have no intention of causing unrest," he said.
The leader of the rally, the NLD's local chairman Aung Khin Bo, was detained by local authorities, the spokesman added.
The arrest came one day after a woman was detained at Yangon's famed Shwedagon pagoda for holding a prayer vigil to urge the military government to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, activists said.
About 15 people had gathered for their weekly vigil at the golden Shwedagon pagoda on Tuesday, when authorities arrested the leader of the group, Mya Mya San, according to other activists at the service.
"The authorities didn't give any explanation," Naw Ohn Hla, who was at the vigil, told AFP.
"They said she was taken to Kyaikkasan detention ground," she said.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a 62-year-old winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has been under house arrest for most of the last 18 years.
Her NLD won a landslide victory in elections held in 1990, but the military has never recognised the result.
The military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, deals harshly with any dissent and maintains complete control over the nation's media.
But pro-democracy supporters across Myanmar have been staging a rare series of anti-government demonstrations since August 19.
Exiled dissidents reported that hundreds of people had also staged a protest on Tuesday in the town of Taunggok along Myanmar's western coast.
Amnesty International said more than 150 people have been detained over the protests against a massive hike in fuel prices, which has left some unable to even to get to work.
Many of those held were initially taken to an improvised detention camp at the Kyaikkasan sports ground in Yangon. Activists said some of the detainees launched a hunger strike on Friday to demand medical treatment for a wounded colleague.
Many of the detainees were transferred on Sunday to police stations around Yangon, activists said.
"They were still on hunger strike at that time," one activist said.
"We haven't had any information on them since they were moved. Their families are worried because they have not been allowed to visit since the arrests," the activist said.
The latest crackdown on dissent has drawn international criticism, with president Bush condemning Myanmar as he arrived in Sydney ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting.
"It's inexcusable that we've got this kind of tyrannical behaviour in Asia," he said at a news conference.
"It's inexcusable that people who march for freedom are then treated (this way) by a repressive state. And those of us who live in comfort of a free society need to speak out about these kinds of human rights abuses." - AFP/de
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