Bush, Brown agree to keep pressure on Myanmar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed on Friday to keep up international pressure on Myanmar's rulers, and the White House condemned the crackdown there as "barbaric."

Bush and Brown spoke by video link about "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," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

In Myanmar, crowds taunted soldiers and police who barricaded central Yangon to prevent more mass protests against 45 years of military rule and deepening economic hardship in the former Burma.

"The crackdown on peaceful protesters there is quite barbaric," Stanzel told reporters.

State-run television said nine people were killed on Thursday, but Brown told reporters British authorities believed the death toll was "far greater than is being reported."

Brown said Myanmar's government had responded with "oppression and force" to the calls for restraint. "The international community must intensify its efforts," he said in a statement issued before his talks with Bush.

First lady Laura Bush, who has taken an active role in bringing attention to human rights abuses in Myanmar, issued a statement condemning the violence.

"The deplorable acts of violence being perpetrated against Buddhist monks and peaceful Burmese demonstrators shame the military regime," she said.

"The United States stands with the people of Burma. We support their demands for basic human rights: freedom of speech, worship, and assembly," she said. "We cannot, and will not, turn our attention from courageous people who stand up for democracy and justice."