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Monks free officials after burning cars
Several hundred monks in army-run Myanmar held a group of government officials for more than four hours yesterday and torched their cars as anger deepened at last month's shock fuel price rises, a witness said.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:53 September 6, 2007
Yangon: Several hundred monks in army-run Myanmar held a group of government officials for more than four hours yesterday and torched their cars as anger deepened at last month's shock fuel price rises, a witness said.
Around a dozen officials had gone to the monastery in the town of Pakokku, 600 km northwest of Yangon, to apologise for soldiers firing shots over the heads of protesting monks on Wednesday, the witness said.
They had also wanted to ask the abbot of the Mahawithutayama monastery, the town's biggest, to stop monks taking part in the sporadic marches that have broken out against soaring living costs in the former Burma, she added.
However, several hundred young monks locked them inside the monastery and torched four of their cars. A crowd of up to 1,000 people gathered outside the gates and there was no sign of military or police.
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