Junta 'seized weapons from buddhist monasteries'

Burma authorities claimed they seized weapons from Buddhist monasteries and announced dozens of new arrests, defying world outrage over their violent repression of protesters who sought an end to 45 years of dictatorship.

Recent raids on monasteries turned up guns, knives and ammunition, though it was not yet clear to whom they belonged, according to The New Light of Burma, a mouthpiece of the junta. The government threatened to punish any monks who broke the law, stepping up pressure on clerics who led the protests.