Myanmar imposes curfew
25/09/2007 22:08  - (SA)  

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Yangon - Myanmar's ruling junta slapped a curfew on the country's main city Yangon effective on Wednesday and declared the entire city a military "restricted" area, after days of mass street protests.

The announcement was made through loudspeakers by government officials cruising through the city on trucks, witnesses said. The order was issued at 20:45 on Tuesday, but was to take effect from Wednesday, they said.

The order imposes a dusk-till-dawn curfew from 21:00 to 05:00, and declares the city and its environs a "restricted area" - a term normally reserved for military or conflict zones.

The restrictions will be in place for 60 days, and a similar order was imposed in the second city of Mandalay, the announcement said.

"This order was issued because of the protests. Do not organise groups of more than five people," the announcement said.

Myanmar has long banned assemblies of more than five people, but the law has been ignored as protests against the military government have swelled over the last five weeks.

Buddhist monks led 100 000 people into the streets on Monday and Tuesday, in the biggest challenge to the regime in nearly 20 years.

At least 200 armed soldiers and riot police were deployed into downtown Yangon after dark on Tuesday.

- AFP

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