Tens of thousands of Buddhist monks defied orders from the military junta to stay out of politics, relaunching mass protests Tuesday in the country's two biggest cities. The monks, cheered on by supporters, marched out for an eighth day of peaceful protest from Yangon's soaring Shwedagon Pagoda, while some 700 others staged a similar show of defiance in the country's second largest city of Mandalay."The protest is not merely for the well being of people but also for monks struggling for democracy and for people to have an opportunity to determine their own future," one monk told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals from officials.
"People do not tolerate the military government any longer."
The demonstrators in Yangon ended their march around 5 p.m. A monk who appeared to be one of their leaders addressed the crowd and said the protests would continue until the government apologized for mistreatment of monks at an earlier demonstration in northern Myanmar.
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