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Curfew lifted in Myanmar

A child holds a poster during a protest rally against the Myanmar military junta in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Residents in Yangon yesterday welcomed the end of a curfew imposed on the eve of Myanmar's bloody crackdown on peaceful protests, but again voiced fears in private over the country's iron-fisted junta.

The government ended the curfew on Saturday in Yangon where authorities violently put down pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks last month, killing at least 13 people and jailing about 3,000.

Residents in Yangon said they were relieved to see the end of the nightly curfew, which lasted from 11pm to 3am, but confided that they did not yet feel that life had returned to normal.

"People are very happy about the end of the curfew. We are free now," said one company official in his 30s, who declined to be named.

"But people, including myself, continue to worry about the situation because of what happened in Yangon last month," he said.

The end of the curfew came as military-run Myanmar was put under more international pressure over the deadly clampdown on dissent, with the US on Friday stepping up sanctions against the top generals, including junta leader General Than Shwe.

Myanmar, under military rule since 1962, tolerates little public dissent, but anti-junta rallies began in August following a massive hike in fuel prices and snowballed into the biggest challenge to the regime in nearly two decades.

A 55-year-old housewife said she was glad the government lifted the curfew, but added she would stay away from Yangon's golden Shwedagon pagoda, a rallying point for protesters.

"I would like to go to the Shwedagon pagoda, but dare not go there right now. I am too afraid," she said.

While authorities have sharply reduced the security presence around the pagoda, Myanmar's most important landmark, several plainclothes officials were still standing guard yesterday.

A 41-year-old mother of a teenage boy said she continued to fret about security despite the end of the curfew.

"My son is very happy because he can go out with his friends at night. But I am worried about the security situation. I asked my son not to stay outside too long," she said.
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