Myanmar probe finds phosphorus used in crackdown.

YANGON -- Myanmar police used phosphorus against a rally at a copper mine last year, a parliamentary report led by Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday, in the harshest crackdown yet on protest under the reformist regime, reports AFP. However the probe into the November clampdown, which left dozens wounded including monks, recommended the mine at the heart of the dispute continue to operate, despite conceding it only brought "slight" benefits to the nation.

Angry local residents swiftly rejected the findings and insisted the mine, a joint venture between Chinese firm Wanbao and military-owned Myanmar Economic Holding, be shut down over environmental concerns and charges of land-grabbing. "We will go on until the copper mine project is closed down," activist Thwe Thwe Win told the news agency. "We will try legal action peacefully, but we will also use other ways if necessary."

Suu Kyi is due Wednesday to visit the mine in Nomywa, northern Myanmar, and a number of nearby villages, a member of her security staff told AFP. She could face a stern reception from residents who have waged a spirited campaign against the project.

Burns sustained by monks and civilian protesters caused a wave of outrage across Myanmar, sparking further protests and leading to an official apology to senior clerics for a crackdown widely seen as a throwback to junta-era tactics.

The United States, which is normalising relations with Myanmar and which has hardly any...