10,000 monks join Burma protest march

About 10,000 Buddhist monks marched through Burma’s central city of Mandalay today, witnesses said, as a month-long protest against the country’s military government picked up new steam.

Monks from various monasteries started their march in the Mandalay while another 1,000 monks were protesting in the country’s main city of Rangoon, witnesses said.

Monks from several small groups gathered at Rangoon’s main Shwedagon Pagoda, the country’s most revered shrine and a historic centre for protest movements. From there, they planned to march into the centre of the city, witnesses said.

It was the fifth straight day the monks have marched in Rangoon. Their activities have given new life to a protest movement that began a month ago after the government raised fuel prices.