Myanmar lifts curfew imposed after protests

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta lifted a curfew in the country's main city Yangon on Saturday in another sign the generals are feeling strong enough to relax their grip after crushing a monk-led revolt last month.

The announcement, made by loudspeaker trucks driving through the streets of Yangon, also ended a ban on gatherings of more than five people, residents said.

"All measures imposed on September 25 have been lifted," one resident quoted the announcement as saying.

It was not known if a similar clampdown in the central city of Mandalay, which also saw mass protests against the junta, had been lifted too.

Last weekend the junta restored public Internet access more than two weeks after cutting Web connections to stem the flow of images of the protests. The response to the protests outraged the world and triggered tougher Western sanctions, the latest announced by U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday.

The curfew and ban on assembly were imposed at the height of the crackdown on the biggest challenge to 45 years of military rule in the former Burma since 1988, when some 3,000 pro-democracy protesters were believed killed by soldiers.

The government admits 10 people were killed last month when the army crushed the huge demonstrations which began as small protests against fuel price rises in August and escalated as Buddhist monks joined in.

Western governments say the toll is likely far higher.