Oct 1, 2007 (DVB), Padoh Mahn Shah, Secretary of the Karen National Union, has condemned the government's brutal response to the recent protests and expressed his belief that all the people of Burma should join the struggle against the military regime.

Mahn Shah pledged KNU's full support to the monks, students and civilians taking part in protests.

"People from all different walks of life in Burma have to join in with this fight. Everyone, including government employees and soldiers. Because it’s only a handful of [military] uniformed people who are destroying our country while the rest of the soldiers [of the lower ranks] are being mistreated in the same way as civilians and ethnic minorities," he said.

Mahn Shah denounced the violent crackdowns on protestors by the Burmese junta, and urged KNU's rival splinter group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, to ask themselves whether it is right to stand aside while the government is killing and harassing Buddhist monks.

Reporting by DVB