Myanmar bloggers speak out

Yangon: Citizen journalists are tapping on the internet to bring news and pictures of the harsh military crackdown against protesters, despite a recent internet block.

Myanmar's internet access was cut on Friday in what bloggers said was a deliberate move to restrict the flow of information. Access was restored on Saturday.

The bloggers rely on word of mouth, mobile telephones, online chat groups, instant messaging, and first-hand experience to report events in Myanmar.

Pictures of the violence are posted on the Ko htike blog, which also carries messages from contributors.

In the blog, a Singaporean living in Myanmar said that he had been hit by security forces and that soldiers kicking the crowd “shouted that they would kill us if we look at them."

A blogger called Dawn_1o9, an office worker in Yangon, said she was “hiding in the office'' when she heard news of shots being fired.

"In the midst of all these chaos, I am very afraid. I am afraid for myself, I am afraid for my family, and I am afraid for the country," she said.

Foreigners blogging in Myanmar include Irrawaddy.org and burmesedayze.blogspot.com, written by someone who moved to Yangon in March 2006.

Some blogs, such as weunite-weblog.blogspot.com, collect Internet links relating to Myanmar, and warn when the regime blocks websites and blogs.