US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown renewed a call to the Myanmar junta Friday to stop its violent suppression of pro-democracy protestors.
The world's two leading pro-democracy leaders discussed "the need for countries around the world to continue to make their views clear to the junta, that they need to refrain from violence and move to a peaceful transition to democracy," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel, according to Agence France-Presse.They also emphasised the importance of the visit by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar this weekend, said Stanzel.
President Bush and Prime Minister Brown's appeal for peace joined the calls of leaders around the world as news circulated that at least 13 people have died from the junta's violent crackdowns, according to AFP.
For the third day, shots were heard and batons were hurled at disgruntled citizens in Myanmar's two biggest cities. Daily protests drew tens of thousands of people with 100,000 protestors gathered on Monday in the largest pro-democracy demonstration since 1988.
"The military was out in force before they even gathered and moved quickly as small groups appeared breaking them up with gunfire, tear gas and clubs," Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, told The Associated Press by phone.
"It's tragic. These were peaceful demonstrators, very well-behaved," she said.
The European Union, meanwhile, denounced Myanmar's crackdown as "gross and systematic violations of human rights."
"Our team could see the demonstrations from windows in our room and we paused several times to pray for the tense situation," reported an EQUIP ministry trainer, according to the ministry on Thursday.
EQUIP is a Christian leadership training ministry working in more than 100 countries to produce effective leaders. Some of the ministry's leaders were in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to train local leaders as riots broke out this week.
"We see first hand the desperate need for God to work through effective leaders during this critical time in Burma's history," added the trainer who requested to remain anonymous for safety concerns.
