Sat Oct 6, 9:38 PM ET

BANGKOK, Thailand - Myanmar's "saffron revolt" has been crushed by an entrenched junta, but the brutality inflicted on Buddhist monks who braved its guns may be the only thing that could splinter the ranks of its fiercely loyal military.

As Myanmar's prisons fill with monks and other demonstrators and the bloodstains of revolt are expunged from the streets, many in Myanmar fear they might never see the return of democracy.

The Southeast Asian nation formerly named Burma has witnessed British colonial domination, a fleeting era of democracy and 45 years of iron-fisted military rule.

Yet the monks are deeply revered in this mostly Buddhist nation, and imprisoning them upsets the faithful, no matter what their occupation or political bent.

"The crackdown by the military against the monks may be a major element in the destruction of the very military unity they seek. Many may be profoundly disturbed by the actions of their colleagues," says David Steinberg of Georgetown University, an author of several books on Myanmar.

The beating and mass arrests of the monks, who led pro-democracy demonstrations last month across the country, struck at the junta's greatest fear — that factions within its ranks may side with those seeking change.

And that side showed unexpected strength. The world was caught by surprise at the determined, organized and wide-ranging opposition that sprang up in the last two months.

Drawn in by graphic images of the crackdown, governments around the world responded with unprecedented condemnation, some sanctions and calls for neighboring China and India, major trading partners of Myanmar, to use their leverage on the junta.

Given the past record, however, neither outside pressure nor possible talks between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are likely to have significant effect on the intransigent leaders.

But the military, in trying to woo a hostile people, has constantly trumpeted an image as Buddhism's protector, building new pagodas, repairing monasteries and offering alms to monks.

"Buddhism has been a critical element in this legitimacy process. But all of a sudden you have delegitimization of a lot of that effort," Steinberg said.

One faithful Buddhist summed up common sentiment after emerging from a pagoda in Yangon last week.

"If the military kill monks, merciful monks, they are not Buddhists, they are savages," the retired teacher said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear.

Others unleashed their hatred of the regime by screaming abuse and even exposing their genitals to soldiers.

"Terror reigns in Rangoon (Yangon) now, but anger is there also and it's not going away," says Monique Skidmore, a Myanmar expert at Australian National University. "The pro-democracy movement sees this as the beginning of the end (of the junta), even if it takes 10 years."

Red-robed monks, university students, labor activists, ordinary people and remnants of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party all took part in the protests.

"A new generation has emerged of people we have never heard of before. Even if this new movement has been suppressed now, it's not been decapitated, so it may rise again," says Donald M. Seekins, a Myanmar expert at Meio University in Japan.

However the movement shapes up, activists may again have to face the army's guns alone.

Experts, including some Chinese academics, say even Beijing has limited influence over the generals, never mind the United Nations.

"China's soft spot would be a boycott of the Olympics next year. That's something they definitely don't want," says Seekins. "I don't see the American team not going to Beijing, but if there is a boycott movement it would be very embarrassing to China."

Chinese security experts tasked with studying risks to the 2008 Beijing Olympics believe chances of a boycott over Myanmar, Darfur, Tibet or other issues are slim because governments and world leaders are resistant to the idea. President Bush, for one, has already accepted the Chinese president's invitation to attend the games.

World pressure on the junta to hold talks with Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years, also shows little promise.

Following last week's trip by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar, the junta chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, said Thursday that he would be willing to meet with Suu Kyi, but only if she stops calling for sanctions.

However, the two already met five years ago and those talks broke down in acrimony.

"I don't believe there is one shred of evidence that they (the junta) are sincere," says Josef Silverstein, a retired Rutgers University professor who has studied Myanmar for more than half a century. "(Than Shwe) is still the commander and she's expected to come crawling to him on her belly."

Sat Oct 6, 6:01 PM ET

YANGON - The door to talks between Myanmar's ruling generals and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared to be ajar on Saturday as Western powers pressured the junta to begin a dialogue with the opposition.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, or NLD, who initially rejected the junta's offer of talks as unrealistic, said it could clear the way for discussions about discussions.

"We can say it is a significant improvement on the past situation. They have never committed themselves to talking to her," Nyan Win said.

Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who outraged the world by sending in soldiers to crush peaceful monk-led demonstrations last week, offered direct talks if Suu Kyi abandoned "confrontation" and her support for sanctions and "utter devastation."

Myanmar analysts caution against optimism as hopes of change in the past have been dashed so often in 45 years of military rule, punctuated by the army killing 3,000 people in crushing an uprising in 1988.

Two years later, the NLD won a landslide election victory that the generals ignored. Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the past 18 years in detention.

A global day of demonstrations against the junta's actions failed to spark in Asia on Saturday, although several thousand people marched through central London waving placards and wearing red headbands to show solidarity with detained monks.

On the way, they dropped petals into the River Thames and tied ribbons and robes to the gates at the entrance of the road to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street office. Britain is the former colonial power in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

A rally in Tokyo was canceled and one in Bangkok attracted only around 100 people. Dozens of Buddhist monks and women demonstrated outside the Myanmar and Chinese embassies in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

In Australia, 250 mainly Burmese expatriates marched to the Sydney Opera House and 200 protesters gathered in Melbourne.

"We are united in opposition to the military dictatorship in Burma. It's time for the regime to start reconciliation," said Sydney organizer Maung Maung Than.

FOOTAGE OF SUU KYI

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, speaking to reporters after briefing the Security Council on Friday on his four-day visit to Myanmar, said he saw a "window of opportunity" for talks between the junta and Suu Kyi, who met Gambari twice.

"From my own conversation, she appears to be very anxious to have a proper dialogue" provided there were no preconditions, Gambari said.

There has been no word from Suu Kyi, 62, who is confined to her house in Yangon without a telephone and requires official permission, rarely granted, to receive visitors.

But, in what appeared to another move aimed at deflecting international anger, state television broadcast rare footage of Suu Kyi for the first time in four years on Friday night.

It referred to her respectfully as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a departure from past practice when her father's name, Aung San, was dropped to deny her link to the nation's independence hero.

Official newspapers on Saturday quoted a senior junta official as telling Gambari that "anti-government groups should compromise and adjust their policies."

Britain, France and the United States -- which is pushing for tougher sanctions against the junta -- circulated a draft statement to the U.N. Security Council that demanded the junta free political detainees and talk to the opposition.

A statement has no legal force but if a strongly worded text were approved by China, until now Myanmar's closest ally on the council, it would send a forceful message to the junta.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, said he was hopeful of international action given the strong consensus at the Human Rights Council, where even China and Russia agreed to a condemnatory resolution.

Pinheiro has been denied a visa to visit Myanmar for four years but he said he was still hoping to go and that there were positive signs despite the resistance of China and Russia against Security Council action.

"I can't guarantee that something positive will happen but I think that we are living at a moment where things are moving and perhaps this famous 'international community' will have some effect," he said.

The junta says 10 people were killed in the crackdown but Western governments say the toll is likely far higher.

"We believe there have been many more killings than the regime admit," Britain's Brown said. "And we have very grave concerns about hundreds, possibly thousands, of monks, nuns and others who have simply disappeared."

Brown met a delegation of Myanmar democracy campaigners as part of the global day of protests.

"I want the EU to impose further sanctions on the regime to make it absolutely clear we will not tolerate the abuses that have taken place," he told the delegation.

Sat Oct 6, 4:34 PM ET

LONDON - Protests against Myanmar's bloody crackdown on dissenters took place in cities around the world Saturday, with thousands demonstrating in London and smaller gatherings held in Sydney, Stockholm, Bangkok, Paris and elsewhere.

The coordinated displays of public condemnation followed the violent crackdown by Myanmar's junta on thousands of activists in late September. At least 13 people were killed and 2,000 detained.

In Britain, Myanmar's former colonial power, thousands crowded through streets behind saffron-robed Buddhist monks who threw petals into the River Thames.

Police said 3,000 people took part. Organisers put the figure at 10,000.

After stopping at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street offices to tie red headbands to the gates, the demonstrators went on to Trafalgar Square to hear MPs, human rights campaigners and Myanmar exiles exhort the United Nations to take action against Yangon's junta.

"Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years," said Amnesty International's secretary general Irene Khan.

Brown issued a message of support to the people of Myanmar, telling them: "Today is above all about repeating a firm message: the world has not forgotten -- and will not forget -- the people of Burma."

In Sydney, hundreds rallied outside the landmark Opera House. Another 1,000 marched through Melbourne, some carrying red banners that read "no more bloodshed."

Other protests took place in Perth, and in Brisbane, where organiser Natasha Lutes said: "This is about getting a message to the people in Burma.

"They've been struggling to get the message out about the atrocities that are happening in Burma, putting their lives on the line. We want them to know the world has been listening and ordinary people everywhere support them."

Dozens also gathered in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, shouting "Free Burma" and brandishing pictures of Myanmar's pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Campaigners in India were to hold a candle-lit vigil outside a war memorial in the heart of New Delhi.

In Singapore, a vigil outside the Myanmar embassy involving an opposition political party and members of the Myanmar community entered its seventh day on Saturday.

Amnesty International Korea said some 200 protestors, including immigrant workers from Myanmar, would stage a protest outside the country's embassy in central Seoul on Sunday to press for the release of prisoners of conscience.

In Paris, 200 people gathered at a Buddhist temple where they placed yellow roses at the feet of a giant Buddha statue.

A similarly sized demonstration occurred in Vienna, with those taking part wearing saffron as a sign of solidarity. A union leader, Rudolf Hundstorfer, said "we can fear the worst" for those detained in Myanmar.

Brussels, the Belgian city home to the main institutions of the European Union, saw 400 demonstrators gather.

"We have to know where are the people who have been arrested, and they must be freed -- you are their last hope," one of the organisers told the crowd, which included Belgian MPs.

A union tract calling for a boycott of the French oil group Total for continuing to do business with Myanmar was widely applauded.

In the Netherlands, activists announced they had sabotaged a Total petrol station in Oosterbeek, in the centre of the country, and demanded the oil company's immediate withdrawal from Myanmar.

Some 150 people demonstrated in central Stockholm and held three minutes of silence "out of respect for all those who are suffering in Myanmar," said Fredrik Korn, a spokesman for the Swedish branch of Amnesty International.

About 100 demonstrators gathered in front of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, carrying "Solidarity with Burma" placards and demanding an end to violence.

The association "Canadian Friends of Burma" has scheduled about a dozen of protest rallies in other Canadian cities for this weekend.

Sat Oct 6, 3:31 PM ET

LONDON - Several thousand protesters marched through central London on Saturday after a global day of demonstrations against Myanmar's violent suppression of pro-democracy protests failed to take off in Asia.

A rally in Tokyo was cancelled and one in Bangkok attracted only around 100 people. Dozens of Buddhist monks and women demonstrated outside the Myanmar and Chinese embassies in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

In Australia around 250 mainly Burmese expatriates staged a march to the Sydney Opera House and around 200 protesters gathered in Melbourne.

"We are united in opposition to the military dictatorship in Burma. It's time for the regime to start reconciliation," said Sydney organizer Maung Maung Than who called for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners to be freed.

Than said the protests were also aimed at keeping up pressure on the international community to act. "The international response is just getting started, it must get a lot stronger."

One banner at the protest called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, reflecting a view that regional powerhouse China should be exerting more pressure on the junta.

In London, after a delegation met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, campaigners waving placards and wearing red headbands to show solidarity with detained monks marched to a rally in Trafalgar Square. Police said 3,000 took part in the demonstration, but organizers estimated the turnout at 10,000.

On the way, they dropped petals into the River Thames and tied ribbons and robes to the gates at the entrance of the road to Brown's Downing Street office. Britain is the former colonial power in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

CANCELLED PROTEST

A planned protest in Tokyo was cancelled. Organizers said they were satisfied with a U.N. draft proposal on Myanmar on Friday which condemned repression by the junta and demanded it free political detainees and begin dialogue with the opposition.

In Bangkok, about 100 activists shouted anti-junta slogans and waved placards saying "No More Bloodshed" and "Stop Destroying Freedom" as they marched through the Thai capital.

Boonthan Verawongse of the rights group Amnesty International called on the Thai government to put pressure on Myanmar's generals.

"Without intervention by the Thai government and many Asian countries, the Burmese junta will still be very strong and oppress people in the country," he said.

Myanmar receives most of its export earnings from selling gas to Thailand, which is competing against China, India and others for a slice of the country's abundant gas reserves.

Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors condemned last week's ruthless crackdown when soldiers opened fire to clear the streets of the capital of up to 100,000 monk-led protesters, but have so far ruled out sanctions.

State media said 10 people were killed in the violence. "We believe there have been many more killings than the regime admit," Brown said in a statement.

Sat Oct 6, 2:38 PM ET

LONDON - Demonstrators in cities across Europe and Asia joined Saturday in protests against the military junta in Myanmar, where some activists held covert vigils for those killed and arrested in the crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrations.

Hoping to send Myanmar's ruling military generals a message that "the world is still watching," rights group Amnesty International organized marches in more than two dozen Asian, European and North American cities.

Some observers predicted the protests would have minimal effect on an inward-looking military elite that has largely ignored world opinion and pressure during its 45 years in power.

There were no visible demonstrations in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon, where bans on gatherings of more than five people are enforced by soldiers, but some in the city and elsewhere in the country prayed in their homes at the suggestion of a Buddhist monk interviewed by Radio Free Asia's Myanmar-language service.

The military has acknowledged detaining hundreds of Buddhist monks — who are revered in the deeply religious nation and spearheaded the mass demonstrations — and the party of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Saturday that 210 of its members were arrested during the crackdown.

Before demonstrations began in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for new European Union sanctions against the junta, including a ban on future investment in the country, which is also known as Burma.

"The anger of the world has been expressed about the outrages that have taken place against the people of Burma," Brown said during a televised meeting with Buddhist monks gathered in his 10 Downing St. office.

Myanmar monks scattered flower petals in London's River Thames and led about 3,000 people — some chanting "Burma, Burma, Free, Free" to a rally in Trafalgar Square, where Amnesty International's chief Irene Khan declared, "Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years. We will not forget this time round, we will not let the people of Burma down."

The international day of protest began in Melbourne, Australia, where 200 people marched behind a banner demanding "No More Bloodshed." In Sydney, some 200 marchers dressed in colorful clothes to show their support for what some are calling the "saffron revolution" after the Myanmar monks' robes.

In Taipei, hundreds braved a strong typhoon to demand action from the international community. Smaller crowds turned out in Bangkok and Manila. In Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, 300 people attended a candlelight vigil Friday evening.

In Paris, French police blocked several hundred protesters, including monks, from marching on the Chinese Embassy in Paris. The crowd stood in front of the adjacent embassy.

"China has the biggest investments there. Therefore, we would like to go on bended knees and ask them to do something because they are so powerful there," French-British actress Jane Birkin told AP Television News. Birkin has been a leading activist in France against the Myanmar regime.

International condemnation of the junta intensified at the United Nations, with the U.S. warning it would push for U.N. sanctions against Myanmar if it fails to respond to the world's demands for democratic reforms.

But Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the U.N. General Assembly last week that democracy "cannot be imposed from outside" and demonstrators at recent pro-government rallies have carried placards saying "Oppose external interference."

"International public opinion is not enough. It hasn't been as effective as we had hoped. There is hope now that (opposition) is stirring inside the country. It must happen from inside the country, with pressure from outside," said Asda Jayanama, a former Thai diplomat active who watches Myanmar.

Demonstrations that began in mid-August over a sharp fuel price increase swelled into Myanmar's largest anti-government protests in 19 years. The government says 10 people were killed in the subsequent crackdown but dissident groups put the death toll at more than 200.

Sat Oct 6, 11:47 AM ET

Main events in the political history of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma:


• 1824-1886: Britain and Burma fight three wars, and Britain eventually annexes Burma.

• January 1948: Burma wins independence from Britain. Civilian government takes office.

• March 1962: General Ne Win seizes power in a bloodless coup, and the government adopts socialism, leading to economic ruin.

• March 1988: Students battle riot police in the largest city then known as Rangoon, starting a national uprising for democracy in which at least 3,000 are killed by security forces.

• September 1988: Army commander Gen. Saw Maung announces military takeover. Aung San Suu Kyi emerges as pro-democracy leader, forms the National League for Democracy party.

• June 1989: The government renames the country Myanmar and changes the name of capital from Rangoon to Yangon.

• July 1989: Suu Kyi is put under house arrest. She will spend 12 of the next 18 years in detention.

• May 1990: The junta calls general elections. Suu Kyi's party wins landslide victory, but military refuses to hand over power.

• October 1991: Suu Kyi is awarded Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful struggle against the regime.

• July 1992: Gen. Than Shwe takes over as head of the junta.

• November 2005: Government begins moving capital to Naypyitaw, 250 miles north of Yangon.

• Aug. 15, 2007: Government raises fuel prices by as much as 500 percent.

• Aug. 19: Up to 500 people in Yangon stage rare public protest against price increases.

• Sept. 5: Soldiers fire warning shots at monks' protest in Pakokku in the north, reportedly injuring several monks.

• Sept. 22: Up to 10,000 monks protest in the northern city of Mandalay. In Yangon, Suu Kyi greets thousands of monks as they march past her house. It is her first public appearance in more than four years.

• Sept. 24: About 100,000 people led by Buddhist monks demonstrate in the largest anti-government protests since 1988. Security forces respond with mass arrests and beatings.

• Sept. 27: Security forces fire into crowd of unarmed protesters, igniting international outrage. The government says 10 people are killed, but activists put the death toll far higher.

• Oct 2: U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari meets with Than Shwe during a four-day visit, urging the government to stop its crackdown on protesters. He also meets twice with Suu Kyi.

• Oct. 4: Than Shwe says he is willing to meet Suu Kyi, but sets conditions.

Sat Oct 6, 11:16 AM ET

LONDON - Thousands of people took to the streets of central London Saturday in a show of solidarity with democracy protesters in Myanmar.

Organisers of the march told AFP that an estimated 10,000 people had turned out, but police said the figure was about 3,000.

Saffron-robed Buddhist monks led off the marchers from the Tate Britain art gallery after throwing petals into the River Thames opposite.

The marchers, many shouting "Burma, Burma, free, free", stopped outside the British prime minister's official residence on Downing Street and tied red headbands similar to those worn by protesters in Myanmar to the gates.

A rally was then held at Trafalgar Square where a number of MPs, human rights campaigners and Myanmar exiles told the crowd there was an urgent need for United Nations action against the military regime.

Monks began the rally with prayers for peace and an end to the violence.

Amnesty International's secretary general Irene Khan said: "Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years.

"We will not forget this time round, we will not let the people of Burma down.

"I cannot think of a better way of getting the message across today and in the words of (the imprisoned democracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi herself who said the worst prison is fear and the real freedom is freedom from fear.

"That is what we want for the people of Burma: freedom from fear."

Refugee Myo Thien, who fled Myanmar in 2003, said she was encouraged by the world's condemnation of the junta's bloody crackdown on the protesters, adding: "We have had good statements but now we need real action."

Similar protests and vigils took place in other cities and around the world.

Earlier, Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave his support to the marchers, pledged an extra one million pounds in emergency aid to Myanmar and vowed to maintain the pressure on the international community to act.

Sat Oct 6, 8:55 AM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's junta Saturday tried to cool growing UN pressure over its deadly crackdown on peaceful protests, offering talks with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and relaxing its blockage of the Internet.

But analysts warned that the rare gestures offered by the regime appeared to be token efforts to stave off tougher UN action demanded by the United States and other Western countries.

Faced with the biggest protests against military rule in nearly two decades, Myanmar's government launched a bloody crackdown in late September that left at least 13 dead and more than 2,000 locked up.

Across Asia, activists on Saturday took to the streets in cities from Sydney to Bangkok, kicking off a global day of protest against Myanmar's bloody crackdown on dissent.

Hundreds rallied outside Sydney's iconic Opera House, while in Melbourne 1,000 people marched, some carrying red banners that read "no more bloodshed."

In London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a message of support to the people of Myanmar, saying the world was not forgetting them.

"We have not forgotten their courage and dignity, taking to the streets in the face of a brutal regime. We have not forgotten the guns and batons, the arrests and murders which met them," Brown said.

Meanwhile, UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who visited Myanmar to express global outrage at the junta's actions, warned the UN Security Council Friday that the nation's turmoil could have "serious international repercussions."

As Gambari was briefing the Council in New York, state television in Myanmar broadcast images of the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time in at least four years.

The regime also restored some Internet access and announced that it had freed hundreds of detained Buddhist monks who led the protests.

The military, which has ruled this country also known as Burma for 45 years, rarely makes any concessions, but analysts warned the gestures were a bid to ward off tougher international action.

"The regime is trying to cool down international pressure. The junta hopes to defuse pressure as the UN Security Council is likely to take some action against Burma following Gambari's briefing," Thailand-based Myanmar analyst Win Min said.

Junta leader Than Shwe has made a heavily conditioned offer to hold talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, insisting that the Nobel peace prize winner drop her support for sanctions and tell supporters to stop confronting the government.

"It's a mixed signal. It showed Than Shwe at least recognised internal and international calls for dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi," Win Min said.

"But at the same time, the conditions set by the regime were not realistic at all. It looks like the regime really doesn't want to talk to her."

Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest but she remains an international symbol of non-violent struggle against tyranny.

The United States has led global calls for her release and warned Friday that it may push for UN sanctions if the ruling junta kept up a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

After Gambari's briefing, the United States, Britain and France circulated a draft of a non-binding statement condemning Myanmar's government.

"The Security Council condemns the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions," the text said.

Gambari told reporters that there was a consensus among members of the Security Council that the status quo in Myanmar "is unacceptable and unsustainable and probably unrealistic."

He also said Aung San Suu Kyi appeared to be in good spirits when he met her.

"But now I think she wants this to be used as an opportunity to really engage in dialogue with the authorities so that together they can move the country forward," he told CNN.

In Yangon, residents declined to comment on the UN draft statement condemning the junta's actions.

"I don't want to talk about politics. Poor people like me are just trying to survive. Now commodity prices are high, but my salary is still low," said a security guard in his 40s who works at a downtown building.

Myanmar's neighbour China has previously sheltered the generals from action at the United Nations.

China's ambassador to the world body, Wang Guangyam, has warned that pressure for greater democratisation "would only lead to confrontation."

Sat Oct 6, 6:18 AM ET

LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a message of support to the people of Myanmar Saturday, as activists took to the streets around the world in a show of solidarity with democracy protesters.

"Today is above all about repeating a firm message: the world has not forgotten -- and will not forget -- the people of Burma," he said.

"We have not forgotten their courage and dignity, taking to the streets in the face of a brutal regime. We have not forgotten the guns and batons, the arrests and murders, which met them."

In London, Buddhist monks will lead a march from the Tate Britain art gallery on the banks of the River Thames to a rally in Trafalgar Square, central London.

On the way, they will tie red headbands similar to those worn by protesters in Myanmar to the gates of the prime minister's official residence in Downing Street.

Brown repeated his assertion that many more protesters have been killed in Myanmar than the military regime admits and described attacks on monks in their monasteries as "appalling".

London also has "very grave concerns" about "hundreds, possibly thousands" of monks, nuns and others who have not been seen since a bloody crackdown on dissent began, he said, urging foreign governments to keep up the pressure.

"The demonstrators who have made sacrifices, and the brave citizens and journalists who have risked so much to get images and information to the outside world, deserve no less," he added.

Brown wants tougher European Union sanctions against Myanmar and has thrown his weight behind UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in efforts towards political reconciliation and democracy.

He also believes the leader of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in the country's biggest city Yangon, should play a central role.

"I salute and share the commitment of those who will send such a powerful message of support to the people of Burma today -- and of condemnation to the regime that seeks to stifle those same Burmese voices," he added.

Sat Oct 6, 3:45 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Key UN powers stepped up calls for Myanmar to release political prisoners, after an envoy to the repressive state warned of "serious international repercussions" from the bloody turmoil there.

The United States signaled Friday it may push for UN sanctions if the ruling junta kept up a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and western UN powers circulated a draft statement condemning its "violent repression."

"It is ... essential for Myanmar's leadership to recognize that what happens inside Myanmar can have serious international repercussions," the world body's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, said in his first report to UN Security Council since his return Thursday from a visit to Yangon.

"No country can afford to act in isolation from the standards by which all members of the international community are held," he said.

Myanmar's rulers meanwhile broadcast rare footage of detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on state television for the first time in at least four years.

They said they had freed hundreds of detained monks, and restored Internet access after a week -- but only during a military-imposed curfew, users reported. The steps appeared aimed at appeasing the international outrage over their crackdown.

Gambari told CNN International after meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in her Yangon home that she had seemed "encouraged by the fact that the people of Myanmar spoke up."

"But now I think she wants this to be used as an opportunity to really engage in dialogue with the authorities so that together they can move the country forward," he said.

After a closed-door session with Security Council members, Gambari told reporters here Friday that there was a consensus among members that the status quo in the unrest-hit Southeast Asian country "is unacceptable and unsustainable and probably unrealistic."

He also said he was considering a return visit to Myanmar earlier than mid-November, as initially arranged, saying this would be useful "to keep the momentum" generated by his visit earlier this week, which offered "a window of opportunity."

The draft statement circulated late Friday to the council contained an appeal to the ruling generals "to ensure full and unlimited access for Mr. Gambari during his visit."

"The Security Council condemns the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions," said the text, drafted by the United States, Britain and France.

Gambari added that he was awaiting a "concrete" response from the military junta to his call for the release of political prisoners, humanitarian access to those in need, cessation of hostilities against ethnic minorities and for dealing with the underlying cause of discontent.

Taking a more hardline stance, the US ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad told the council Washington was prepared to introduce a sanctions resolution if the military rulers fail to cooperate with Gambari.

The United States has already slapped travel bans on the junta's top leaders and frozen their assets. But there was no indication that the council would consider a sanctions resolution any time soon.

China, which has close ties with Myanmar and favors constructive engagement with its military regime, warned putting pressure on the junta "would lead to confrontation."

China has already opposed past bids for UN sanctions, vetoing a US-sponsored draft resolution in January, along with Russia.

But Myanmar topped the UN agenda again after last week's pro-democracy protests, sparked by a hike in fuel prices, drew more than 100,000 people onto the streets of Yangon, prompting a violent crackdown and more than 2,000 arrests.

Authorities in Myanmar say 13 people were killed in the crackdown on the anti-regime protests, the largest the country has seen in almost 20 years.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed an offer by Myanmar's rulers to meet Aung San Suu Kyi if she drops her call for sanctions against the regime and urged.

The Nobel peace prize laureate, who has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest, is a symbol of the pro-democracy movement. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said she would consider the offer "in a positive light."

Protests against Myanmar's crackdown and in support of Aung San Suu Kyi were expected to take place around the world Saturday.

In one of the first rallies, hundreds of activists took to the streets in New Zealand. Later demonstrations were planned for Taipei, Delhi, Geneva, London, Lisbon and Ottawa.

Sat Oct 6, 3:12 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS - The U.S. warned it would push for U.N. sanctions against Myanmar if it fails to respond to international demands to move toward democracy. But the country's U.N. ambassador strongly resisted punitive measures, saying it is not a threat to regional security and needs "patience" to promote reconciliation.

The U.S. and its allies on the Security Council — France and Britain — said Friday after being briefed on the U.N. special envoy's four-day trip to Myanmar that they want swift action in response to the government's brutal crackdown on demonstrations last week.

Security Council members met behind closed doors to discuss a possible statement in support of national reconciliation in the country and U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari's efforts, but U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad stressed he was prepared to go further.

"The United States is appalled by the brutal repression that has been carried out by the Burmese regime against its own people," he told the council, using Myanmar's former name.

If the junta doesn't respond to the demands of the international community, he warned, "the U.S. is prepared to introduce a resolution in the Security Council imposing sanctions," citing a possible arms embargo.

But China and Russia remain opposed to council action, saying the situation in Myanmar is an internal affair that does not threaten international peace and security.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya called on the Security Council to exercise restraint and reiterated his country's opposition to pressuring Myanmar through such measures as sanctions.

"Pressure would not serve any purpose and would only lead to confrontation," Wang said. "If the situation in Myanmar takes a worse turn because of external intervention it will be the people of the country who will bear the brunt."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his government has called on the junta to implement democratic reforms. The Security Council's job, he said, "is to continue lending political support to the efforts of Mr. Gambari."

Myanmar's U.N. ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, also urged against Security Council action, saying his country was committed to forging ahead with national reconciliation.

"Patience, time and space is needed," he said. "Despite the recent tragic events, the situation in Myanmar is not, and I repeat not, a threat to either regional or international peace and security. No Security Council action is warranted."

Kyaw Tint Swe said stability had returned to his country and people have been holding peaceful, pro-government rallies "to demonstrate their aversion to recent, provocative demonstrations." Critics say such rallies are shams, filled with people ordered to attend by authorities.

In his speech to the council, Gambari urged Myanmar's military rulers to take steps toward democracy and quickly start talks with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"This is an hour of historic opportunity for Myanmar," Gambari said. "To delay the prospect of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Myanmar is to deny it to those who deserve it most, the people of Myanmar."

Gambari said he was "cautiously encouraged" that the country's military ruler, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, said he would meet with Suu Kyi, with certain conditions. Those include giving up her calls for confronting the government and for imposing sanctions against it, Myanmar state media said.

Gambari stressed, however, that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for talks without any preconditions to overcome "the high level of mistrust" between Than Shwe and Suu Kyi.

"From my own conversations (with Suu Kyi), she appears to be very anxious to have a proper dialogue — and, of course, a dialogue that the secretary-general has characterized as without preconditions — because that would be the best way to move forward. Just start talking," Gambari told reporters afterward.

Gambari said he has been invited to return to Myanmar in mid-November but may try to go earlier. Ban sent Gambari to Myanmar last week after troops quashed the protests with gunfire and detained hundreds of people. The government said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the death toll at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including thousands of monks.

Myanmar's ambassador said Friday that 2,095 detainees had been released, including 728 monks, and that more releases will follow.

The U.S., Britain and France circulated a draft presidential statement Friday that would welcome Gambari's mission, condem the government's "violent repression" of peaceful demonstrations, and call for the immediate release of all detainees and political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, to promote "genuine reconciliation, dialogue and democratization."

The draft statement, which the council is expected to discuss next week, supports a dialogue between the government and opposition "without conditions."

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement led by Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide election victory. Suu Kyi has been detained for nearly 12 of the last 18 years and is currently under house arrest.

The current protests began Aug. 19 after the government hiked fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. The protests were faltering when Buddhist monks took the lead late last month.

Sat Oct 6, 2:31 AM ET

SINGAPORE - Any peaceful solution to the situation in Myanmar must include the military, the Association of South East Asian Nations has told a UN meeting.

Current ASEAN chair Singapore told a Security Council meeting Friday excluding the armed forces could result in more instability in Myanmar, where a bloody crackdown on protests last month left at least 13 dead and more than 2,000 locked up.

"It would be a grievous mistake to think that if the State Peace and Development Council (Myanmar's ruling junta) left the scene tomorrow, all would suddenly be well and all problems would automatically be resolved," said Vanu Gopala Menon, Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Menon said the world must be "pragmatic" in dealing with the reclusive, military-ruled country.

"The military is a key institution in Myanmar that cannot be wished away. Any peaceful solution to the crisis will have to involve all parties, including the military," he said, according to a transcript released by the foreign ministry here.

"If the military is not part of the solution, there will be no solution. If the process is mishandled, it could result in greater instability and more suffering for the Myanmar people."

Despite its spotty human rights record, ASEAN admitted Myanmar in 1997 in the hope of inducing democratic reforms through constructive diplomacy.

Menon said Myanmar was not a homogenous state, noting the presence of various armed ethnic groups opposed to the central government.

"This should not be an excuse for delaying necessary steps forward. But neither do we want a Yugoslavia in Southeast Asia," he cautioned, referring to the civil wars that led to Yugoslavia's break-up in the 1990s.

The UN Security Council met in New York to hear a report by UN special envoy to Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to Myanmar after troops opened fire on protesters last month to suppress a civilian uprising, killing at least 13 people. More than 2,000 were arrested.

The UN is attempting to find a peaceful way to restore democratic rule in Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military in various guises since 1962, when the first military dictator Ne Win seized power in a coup.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero General Aung San, rose to prominence during a 1988 democracy uprising that was brutally suppressed by the junta, leaving thousands dead.

She helped form the National League for Democracy, but was put under house arrest in 1989, where she has spent 12 of the last 18 years.

Senior General Than Shwe became the junta leader in 1992, and has ruled the country with an iron fist in near-complete isolation.

Menon, Singapore's UN envoy, also said any move to impose additional sanctions must be studied carefully to determine their impact, and urged the world to "avoid falling into the trap of over-simplification" of the situation in Myanmar.

Menon said "it is in everyone's interest to keep Myanmar in the ASEAN family."

ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.