Oct 2, 2007 (DVB), Authorities have released 90 of the 400 monks detained in Kachin state’s capital Myitkyina during a midnight raid on monasteries on 25th September.

A Myitkyina resident said that the monks have been released after questioning because they were determined to have had no involvement in the protests. However, the authorities refused to let them go back to their own monasteries and instead dropped them at Wuntho monastery, the abbot of which is elected by the government.

"They were taken to Wuntho monastery in military trucks. The authorities provided food for them but have refused to let them go back to their monasteries," said the Myitkyina resident yesterday.

Reporting by Naw Noreen