STILL THE PROTESTS CONTINUE:

Defiance, fear and brutality as the junta turns on the people: It was a day of terror and confusion, with hundreds of monks rounded up by military police and at least nine people killed. But still the protests continue. (Rosalind Russell reports from Rangoon, 28 September 2007, Independent)

I was half a mile from the Sule pagoda when I saw the people running, fear and panic written on their faces. Drivers were making hasty U-turns and speeding back on the wrong side of the street. The driver of my battered Toyota taxi refused to go any further, so I stepped out into the hot, humid street.

Stallholders were hurriedly bundling away their vegetables, DVDs and rails of childrens' clothes. Two boys, postcard-sellers, aged no more than eight or nine, ran up to me, still clutching their gaudy pictures of tourist scenes. "Madam it is dangerous for you," one said, offering to lead me away to safety.

Rounding the corner of Rangoon's main avenue, the gleaming temple can be seen at the other end.

But we met a cloud of tear gas. Crowds were retreating, scurrying from the golden stupa towards us, and lines of soldiers were advancing towards them. The crackle of gunfire came then, the sound was unmistakable. That's when I darted into a doorway, joining a group of people watching the drama of this bloody crackdown from the sanctuary of a five-star hotel lobby.