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YANGON : Myanmar's ruling military slapped dusk-till-dawn curfews on the country's two largest cities on Tuesday after Buddhist monks defied warnings of a crackdown and led 100,000 people in another day of mass protests.
The order, effective on Wednesday in Yangon and Mandalay, came after the ruling generals - under pressure after eight straight days of peaceful protests led by the monks - deployed at least 200 armed soldiers and riot police in Yangon.
"This order was issued because of the protests. Do not organise groups of more than five people," the announcement said, reiterating a long-time ban on assemblies that has been ignored as anti-government protests have swelled.
The 9:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew and the ban on public gatherings were to remain in place for 60 days, the announcement said.
Yangon has also been declared a "restricted area" - a term normally reserved for military or conflict zones.
Myanmar's military government is facing the biggest public challenge to its rule since student-led rallies in 1988 were brutally repressed with the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.
US President George W. Bush upped the pressure on Myanmar on Tuesday,
imposing fresh sanctions against the government and urging support for the protesters.
"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma, where a military junta has imposed a 19-year reign of fear," he said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
"The ruling junta remains unyielding, yet the people's desire for freedom is unmistakable."
The military government on Tuesday sternly warned the protesters not to continue their rallies, but about 30,000 monks and 70,000 supporters thronged the streets of Yangon.
The monks, dressed in saffron and red robes, swarmed around city hall and the Sule Pagoda in the city centre, praying and chanting and holding colourful religious banners and images of Buddha.
Thousands of people linked hands to form a human chain around them, while many more bystanders thronged the sidewalks to clap and cheer, offering water to the demonstrators under the blazing tropical sun.
"National reconciliation is very important for us. People and monks are gathering here, and the monks are standing up for the people," famed poet Aung Way said in a speech to the crowd.
Some of the monks chanted "We want dialogue" or carried banners reading: "May people's desires be fulfilled."
Large contingents of students joined the march, carrying the red flags emblazoned with yellow peacocks that symbolise the National League for Democracy of detained Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The protest swept on through the city and paused outside the United Nations office, where the monks called for the democracy icon to be freed from house arrest.
"Release Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners," they chanted.
The NLD joined calls for a non-violent resolution to the crisis, saying: "The only way is through peaceful dialogue."
Clearly alarmed by two days of mass gatherings, including a crowd of 100,000 which took to the streets on Monday, state media bluntly ordered the monks to stay clear of politics, reinforcing government threats of a crackdown.
"We have no fear at all," said one young protester. "This is the only thing we can do. We will continue to act according to Buddhist teachings in this protest."
In the late afternoon the demonstrators returned to the glittering Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's holiest shrine where their gathering had begun, and before dispersing told witnesses they would hold fresh protests on Wednesday.
Exiled groups reported that monks and their supporters had rallied right across the impoverished nation, as far as the western border with Bangladesh.
The clergy's revered status has made them rallying figures for public anger, which first erupted more than one month ago after a crippling hike in fuel prices.
Analysts believe the ruling military, which has extended iron rule over Myanmar for more than four decades, has held back so far for fear that any violence against monks in this devoutly Buddhist nation would spark a huge outcry.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon opened the annual General Assembly summit in New York on Tuesday with a call to Myanmar to "exercise restraint" in the face of the escalating pro-democracy protests.
In his speech to the assembly, Bush said the US would tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the situation would improve when Aung San Suu Kyi "takes her rightful place as the elected leader of a free and democratic Burma." London later voiced support for the US sanctions.
China, one of Myanmar's closest allies, called for stability but said it would stick to its policy of non-interference. - AFP/de
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