US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday renewed a call to the Myanmar junta to end a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protestors.
The two men discussed the crisis in Myanmar and "the need for countries around the world to continue to make their views clear to the junta, that they need to refrain from violence and move to a peaceful transition to democracy," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
They also stressed the importance of a visit to Myanmar this weekend by the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari during a secured videoconference, Stanzel said.
Security forces on Friday clamped down on protests in Myanmar's two biggest cities, firing warning shots and using baton charges in the third day of a crackdown that has left at least 13 people dead.
The military regime also appeared to have cut the main Internet link to block images and reports of the violence from the isolated nation, which have galvanised world opinion against the ruling generals.
About 10,000 people surged onto the streets of the main city of Yangon, playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as they repeatedly confronted police and soldiers before scattering and regrouping once more.
In the central city of Mandalay, thousands of young people on motorbikes rode down a major thoroughfare towards a blockade set up by security forces who unleashed a volley that witnesses believed could have been rubber bullets.
{{/usCountry}}In the central city of Mandalay, thousands of young people on motorbikes rode down a major thoroughfare towards a blockade set up by security forces who unleashed a volley that witnesses believed could have been rubber bullets.
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