Police kept guard around Burma's holiest Buddhist shrine Friday after student protesters had abandoned the hilltop pagoda. Pilgrims who entered the spawling Shwedagon Pagoda after it was reopened Friday said they found no trace of the demonstrators. Traffic increased in Rangoon, and all markets were open, although fewer shoppers were seen. Police also kept tight security around other temples in the capital. Nine people were killed in the week of student-led street violence, officials said. The government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew, closed institutions of higher learning and prohibited all public meetings. Buddhist pilgrims reported Thursday that students had moved into the shrine, a centuries-old marvel of golden spires and stupas, to set up a ``strike center'' that would coordinate anti-government protests. Pagoda trustees who spoke on condition of anonymity said university students arrived in groups at the shrine Wednesday afternoon and probably mingled with worshippers before the 6 p.m. government curfew. The students were also said to have left later that day, though it was not clear whether they too were observing the curfew or departed for some other reason. The trustees said security officials searched the temple grounds Wednesday night and barred public access Thursday. The week's protests also forced the suspension of classes at schools in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. Anti-government protests also have been reported in Pegu, north of Rangoon, and in Moulmein, on the southeastern seacoast. Since October, the 26-year-old regime of strongman U Ne Win has been rocked by three violent protests in Rangoon and smaller ones in other parts of the country. Diplomatic and other sources says lack of personal freedoms and a downward spiraling economy are fueling unrest. Buddhist pagodas in Burma have traditionally been centers of political protest. In 1920, Rangoon students moved into the Shwedagon grounds to launch agitation against the British, then Burma's colonial rulers. The posting of guards at Sule, Botataung and other shrines was viewed as a measure to prevent activists from entering the Buddhist holy places, where violence of any kind is forbidden. Last week, students at several institutions had peacefully demonstrated for release of detained students and legalization of student unions. Violence broke out after the government responded by closing the schools. On Tuesday, about 5,000 students and other protesters fought police with stones. Last March, police and military units brutally suppressed a similar demonstration, arresting hundreds and killing what Western diplomats put at possibly up to 100 protesters.
