Myanmar pagoda shut amid rumors

Myanmar pagoda shut amid rumors

YANGON (AP): The most sacred pagoda in Myanmar was closed yesterday morning amid rumors opposition groups were planning a lightning protest at the site.

Shopkeepers at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, a dazzling, bell-shaped, gold-encrusted Buddhist shrine, were told by the pagodas's board of trustees at about 9 a.m. to shut down.

Shopkeepers said, however, that they heard a group of pro- democracy protesters was coming to the pagoda.

The first street protest against military rule in nearly two year erupted Monday in Yangon when about 200 students spilled into the streets near Yangon University.

They were supporting a demand by the opposition National League for Democracy that the military government convene the parliament elected in 1990.