Three of the last remaining leaders of the recent anti-government protests in Burma have been arrested.
The arrests came as thousands attended a pro-government rally in Rangoon, many of them apparently under duress, in support of Burma's junta.
The military reportedly bussed people into Rangoon's main sports ground before dawn for a three-hour, early morning rally to hear officials glorify the military's plan to build what it calls a discipline-flourishing democracy.
The military has staged similar rallies around the country in recent weeks, but this was the first major event in the nation's commercial hub since a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last month.
Rangoon remains under a curfew, and security forces continue to comb through neighbourhoods in search of people linked to the pro-democracy protests last month, which were the biggest challenge to the regime in nearly 20 years.
Amnesty International said Saturday that four more dissidents had been arrested, in addition to the nearly 1,000 still known to be in detention since the protests.
The arrests came just two days after the UN Security Council issued a statement, supported by Burma's ally China, deploring the military's crackdown and calling for the release of political prisoners.
UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is headed back to Southeast Asia for a regional tour beginning in Bangkok to build pressure on the Burmese regime to reform.
Mr Gambari is expected to prepare the ground for a return visit to Burma following his mission last month, when he was allowed to meet with both junta chief Than Shwe and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
