Myanmar under fresh pressure after new US sanctions

---

YANGON, Oct 20 (AFP): Military-run Myanmar was under renewed pressure Saturday after the United States announced a new round of sanctions following the junta's bloody crackdown on dissent here.
US President George W. Bush's new penalties targeted the country's military leaders late Friday and also urged China and India, Myanmar's neighbours and main allies, to step up pressure on the military government.
It is the second time in four weeks that the United States has increased sanctions on the junta following the regime's clampdown on protests.
State media in Yangon has yet to speak about the latest US action, while detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), also declined to comment on the move.
However, a Yangon-based diplomat voiced scional pressure since it violently put down peaceful protests, led by Buddhist monks, in Yangon on September 26, killing at least 13 people and detaining some 3,000 people.
In the wake of the violence, the United States ordered a freeze on the assets of 14 top officials, including Myanmar's junta leader General Than Shwe.