Nine killed as Myanmar cracks down on protests

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Soldiers and police fired into crowds of demonstrators in Myanmar's largest city and gave them 10 minutes to clear the streets or be shot on Thursday, with nine people killed in the second day of a crackdown on the largest uprising in 20 years.

Far fewer demonstrators took to the streets as the military junta clamped down and soldiers raided monasteries in the middle of the night, rounding up hundreds of the monks who had been leading protests.

State television said at least nine people were killed.

As international concern mounted, U.S. President George W. Bush called on all countries with influence over Myanmar to tell the junta to stop using force, and met with China's foreign minister to press the point.

"Every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand up for people suffering under a brutal military regime like the one that has ruled Burma for so long," he said in a statement.

China, which neighbours Myanmar and is one of the military-ruled country's few allies, is a key trading partner and arms supplier to Myanmar and is seen as the linchpin for any international effort to defuse the situation.

One of the dead was a Japanese photographer, shot when soldiers cleared the area near Sule Pagoda -- a focus of the protests -- as loudspeakers blared out warnings, ominous reminders of the crushing of a 1988 uprising in which more than 3,000 people were killed.

In another area of Yangon, soldiers opened fire into crowds after a military truck drove into protesters, onlookers said. Three people were killed on the spot.