Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Burma on October 2

Time in Bangkok is 16:30 (16:00 in Rangoon)


  • Ibrahim Gambari, the UN's special envoy to Burma, met with Snr-Gen Than Shwe on Tuesday morning in the junta's remote new capital, Naypyidaw, two foreign diplomats told The Associated Press.
  • 1974 monks and nuns being arrested at Insein GTI are now scheduled to be sent to Bawathit Prison, Kabaw Valley, Sagaing Division. Details unknown. Activists encourage for possible reporters to keep an aye on all these detention centers. Current satellite images requested. (Mizaw)
  • Some of the universities in Burma have been closed down by the military junta because it is apprehensive of students joining the protest led by monks. (IMNA)
  • Reports emerging from Rangoon indicate that the temporary detention centres based in Yango Institute of Technology and General Institute of Technology (GTI) is currently detaining 500 hundred monks. The monks are refusing to accept Sune (Alms food.....food offering given to monk by layperson just before 12 noon as main meal of the day) from the military junta. The local population approached these detention centres to offer food and they have been turned away by the authorities. Technically, the monks are unintentionally on hunger strike. (Minzaw) Comment: other press reports have mentioned "hunger strikes" by monks, but this explains the nature of the "hunger strike. I interpret this to mean a monk refuse to eat food not donated out of purity of heart. Therefore, the hunger strike is "unintentional."
  • "Our own estimate is about 6,000 people detained, not killed, but detained," including about 2,400 monks, said DVB's chief editor, Aye Chan Naing. He said they were being held in at least four places: the Insein prison; a pharmaceutical factory; a technical institute and a disused racecourse. . . . Ominously, it was reported many would be sent to prisons in the far north of the country.(Telegraph) Comment: scroll down to read (related) report of 4,000 monks at the racecourse.

Time in Bangkok is 16:00 (15:30 in Rangoon)

  • I'm having trouble finding any news updates from Burma for today. Nothing at Mizzima -- which is unusual. Irrawaddy has apparently been attacked by a Trojan.
  • Meanwhile, truly horrifying reports about of the past week have surfaced over the past 24 hours -- from Britain. Scroll down.

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