Myanmar monks march as UN envoy prepares return visit

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Buddhist monks walk through Yangon recently.

YANGON, Oct 31 (AFP): About 100 Buddhist monks marched Wednesday in central Myanmar for the first time since the junta's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last month, witnesses said.
The peaceful demonstration came as officials said UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari would arrive in Myanmar at the weekend for his second round of talks with the ruling generals amid ongoing international concern over September's violence.
The monks marched for about 30 minutes in the town of Pakokku, the scene of one of the most serious confrontations with the military as mass street rallies escalated towards their bloody conclusion, which left 13 people dead.
On September 6, monks -- enraged after troops in Pakokku fired warning shots and used batons to break up an anti-regime protest -- took 20 security personnel hostage for several hours.
Although the crisis was resolved, it marked a turning point in what would become Myanmar's biggest anti-junta protests in 20 years as monks then took to the streets in droves to lead the rallies in this devoutly Buddhist country.
Wednesday's march in Pakokku was not openly political, with witnesses saying the monks refrained from shouting any slogans.
Still, it showed "the sense of frustration and resentment has not disappeared" following last month's crackdown, which saw thousands of monks and pro-democracy activists detained, a Western diplomat in Yangon told AFP.
Hundreds remain in jail, according to diplomats, although the junta on Wednesday released seven people, including members of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
As the monks returned to the streets, a Western diplomat and an official said Gambari would return to Myanmar at the weekend for his second visit in a month, in a bid to put pressure on the junta to implement democratic reforms.
The UN envoy "will be in Myanmar from November 3 to November 8," the diplomat said. The official who asked not to be named told AFP that Gambari would visit the country's new capital of Naypyidaw Sunday.