At least six people have been wounded in a bomb blast in the main
Burmese city of Rangoon Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the
ruling military's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
Authorities
say a small bomb detonated outside Rangoon's City Hall, the focal point
of last year's massive protests led by Buddhist monks. Riot police
have sealed off the area from onlookers.
Security has been
tightened in Rangoon in advance of this week's anniversary of the
crackdown. The United Nations says at least 31 people were killed and
thousands more detained as a result of the crackdown.
In a
related story, the rights group U.S. Campaign for Burma marked the
anniversary with a statement Thursday saying U.S. activists have organized
more than 200 events demanding global action for change in Burma.
The
group said the events include meetings, letter-writing campaigns,
vigils, and demonstrations in U.S. cities such as New York, Washington,
Chicago, and San Francisco.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
