A monk stands after being halted by riot policemen and military officials while he and others attempted to enter the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, September 26, 2007.
Five decades ago, the country was regarded as one of Asia's brightest prospects. Now it is one of its most desperate.
In the northwest coastal town of Sittwe, which has seen some of the biggest protests outside Yangon, residents said 10,000 people took to the streets on Wednesday, the Buddhist holy day.
DIVIDED REACTION
Western leaders appealed to the junta to exercise restraint over the protests.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the events in Myanmar a "tragedy" and urged its government to allow a U.N. envoy to visit the country and meet with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"The regime has reacted brutally to people who were simply protesting peacefully," Rice said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, warning that the "age of impunity" in abusing human rights was over, said the European Union would look at "a whole range of sanctions".
French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged all French companies to hold back from making new investments in Myanmar.
In a statement, the United States and the 27-nation European Union called on the military rulers to stop violence and start a dialogue with pro-democracy leaders, including Suu Kyi, and ethnic minority groups.