( Gulfnews ) - Mae Sot/New York: Myanmar's underground opposition plans to launch a campaign of civil disobedience to maintain the pressure for change on the junta.
Moving daily between safe houses, pro-democracy activists and monks who co- ordinated last month's protests are preparing the next stage of their fight against the generals, while on the run from the continuing, brutal crackdown.
In his first public comments, the fugitive monk who led the so-called Saffron Revolution that erupted two weeks ago insisted that the resistance would continue, but appealed for greater international pressure on the regime. "International assistance is needed urgently," said the monk, who used the Buddhist alias of U Gambiri as he spoke by smuggled satellite telephone from his hideout in Myanmar to supporters in New York.
"We welcome the world's reaction but we would like the international community to be more active and effective as the junta is trying to keep power by the most violent means. Please continue all your efforts to help us."
Myanmarese activists are now planning the next stage of their protests. "There are half a dozen leaders from the 1988 generation who are still hiding in and around Rangoon [ Yangon]," said an opposition source. "Both sides know that this is like the lull between battles in a war. It's a question of re-grouping while we see what happens in the near future."