UN attempting to mediate in Burma, junta continues to silence protesters

The junta leaders in Burma (Myanmar) are attempting to make the world think life is back to normal, but thanks to determined journalists, bloggers, and eye witnesses, the truth is still being revealed.

From BBC News

UN envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari has met detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the main city of Rangoon.

Mr Gambari is attempting to mediate between Burma's junta and the opposition, and end a bloody crackdown on mass pro-democracy protests.

Burma has seen almost two weeks of sustained popular unrest.

But the number of protesters on the streets is now much smaller than at the height of the rallies, and the Buddhist monks who led the initial protests are now being prevented from leaving their monasteries. Witnesses say one person was shot dead overnight when the military raided a monastery in Rangoon, detaining around 60 monks. A woman told the BBC people got angry after seeing monks being thrown into a truck. “One young man got up and shouted - they shot him. His wife came running after him - they slapped her. They took the body away and drove away,” she said.

And from Global Voices Online:

The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a non-profit news organization and one of the few places where the news from Myanmar still trickling in has posted a report in Burmese on soldiers trying to get the monks to give up their religious life.

It is considered to be a sin to just give up being monkhood without valid reasons. The soldiers are trying to significantly lower their influence on people down, to shame them.