Buddhist monks have protested for four consecutive days in the Burmese capital of Rangoon.
A rise in fuel prices last month led to spiraling costs for consumer goods, with the resultant protests violently quelled by government security forces.
In pursuit of an apology for the government violence, as well of the release of four monks arrested during Tuesday's fuel protests, hundreds of monks have marched around the Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma's most revered temple.
However, the monks have taken to the streets after being locked out of the temple, with one group, the Rangoon-based Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks instructing its members to refuse alms from the military regime.
With monks revered in Burma, the refusal of alms will undermine the legitimacy of the military junta - not giving alms in Buddhism is akin to excommunication in Catholicism.
The marchers took their protest to a new political level yesterday (Thursday September 20th) by marching defiantly past the headquarters of opposition heroine Aung San Suu Kyi.
Talking at the United Nations Security Council yesterday, special envoy Ibrahim Gambari said the protests had "raised serious concerns in the international community and once again underscore the urgency to step up our efforts to find solutions to the challenges facing the country".
