The telephone service has been cut off at the headquarters of Burma's top opposition party, the National League for Democracy, a party spokesman said on Thursday.
The action, taken Wednesday, presumably at the behest of the military government, came as the junta has been facing the most sustained protests in a decade against its rule.
"We are a legal political party but we cannot perform legal party activities," said NLD spokesman Myint Thein.
Members of the party, headed by detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have been active in the recent demonstrations.
The protests, triggered by a junta-ordered sharp increase in fuel prices, have continued since August 19 despite the detention of more than 100 demonstrators and rough treatment of other participants.
The NLD is to hold its annual ceremony commemorating its founding on September 27, but the current crackdown raises questions about whether it will be allowed to go ahead.
Several NLD members and pro-democracy activists still at large or in hiding have reported that their mobile phone service has been cut since Monday in an attempt by the junta to curb the flow of information, Myint Thein said.
Several of the dissidents had given interviews over the past few weeks to Burmese media in exile, including the Democratic Voice of Burma, a shortwave radio station based in Norway, and Mizzima News, an online service based in India.
An official involved in telecommunications, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release such information, said more than 50 phones were affected by the security sweep.
Photos and videos of the recent demonstrations have been smuggled out to the exile media, which have sent their reports and images back by radio, satellite TV and the Internet.
Domestic media are tightly controlled by the junta and have little public credibility, prompting many people to get their news from overseas.
The establishment of the foreign-based radio stations and use of the Internet have meant that information about the protests has flowed more widely and rapidly than during past challenges to the government.
Recently, however, Internet cafe operators have been ordered by authorities to report any customers who visit political Web sites.
The action, taken Wednesday, presumably at the behest of the military government, came as the junta has been facing the most sustained protests in a decade against its rule.
"We are a legal political party but we cannot perform legal party activities," said NLD spokesman Myint Thein.
Members of the party, headed by detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have been active in the recent demonstrations.
The protests, triggered by a junta-ordered sharp increase in fuel prices, have continued since August 19 despite the detention of more than 100 demonstrators and rough treatment of other participants.
The NLD is to hold its annual ceremony commemorating its founding on September 27, but the current crackdown raises questions about whether it will be allowed to go ahead.
Several NLD members and pro-democracy activists still at large or in hiding have reported that their mobile phone service has been cut since Monday in an attempt by the junta to curb the flow of information, Myint Thein said.
Several of the dissidents had given interviews over the past few weeks to Burmese media in exile, including the Democratic Voice of Burma, a shortwave radio station based in Norway, and Mizzima News, an online service based in India.
An official involved in telecommunications, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release such information, said more than 50 phones were affected by the security sweep.
Photos and videos of the recent demonstrations have been smuggled out to the exile media, which have sent their reports and images back by radio, satellite TV and the Internet.
Domestic media are tightly controlled by the junta and have little public credibility, prompting many people to get their news from overseas.
The establishment of the foreign-based radio stations and use of the Internet have meant that information about the protests has flowed more widely and rapidly than during past challenges to the government.
Recently, however, Internet cafe operators have been ordered by authorities to report any customers who visit political Web sites.
