Click to play videoNew Delhi: President Bush is expected to announce fresh sanctions against Myanmar on Tuesday. He also called for political change in the military dominated country now under protests by Buddhist monks.
The protests in capital Yangon were triggered by a steep hike in the price of fuel, but have now spread to seven provinces and have acquired a distinct anti-government stance.
The authorities were initially restrained in their response, but police are now warning the monks to stay out of politics.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's military junta held an emergency meeting in the ''War Office'' to work out how to respond to the biggest anti-government protests in nearly 20 years.
Eight truckloads of armed riot police moved into central Yangon after a second day of mass protests ended without incident, a witness was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying.
The police, carrying shields, batons and rifles, was deployed in the Botataung part of the city, near the end-point of the biggest anti-junta marches in nearly 20 years, the witness said.
Separately, the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic militia which has been waging a guerrilla war since 1949, said troops from the 22nd Division -- used during a ruthless military crackdown in 1988 -- had been withdrawn from Karen state.
''The government has ordered the 22nd Division troops to pull out of Karen state and return to Yangon,'' KNU Colonel Nerda Mya was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying from his base along the Thai border.''We believe the troops will be used as in 1988.''
As many as 3,000 people are thought to have died when the generals sent in the army in 1988 to crush a nationwide uprising against military rule in the former Burma.
Meanwhile, China has rejected appeals from the western governments to intervene in Myanmar, where the military junta has threatened to take action against Buddhist monks.
"China always adopts the policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
"As a neighbouring country of Myanmar, we hope to see stability and economic development in that country. We hope and believe that the Yangon government and its people will properly handle the current issues," she was further quoted as saying.
(With inputs from agencies)
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