Many Injured as Riot Police Beat Protesters

The police hit out with batons

Hundreds of baton-wielding police in Myanmar have broken up a demonstration by students who say a new law stifles academic freedom.

A reporter at the scene said dozens of protesters were injured and at least 30 people arrested.

The clashes took place in Letpadan, 140km (90 miles) north of Yangon.

The Reporter correspondent in Myanmar (also known as Burma) says the developments have shown a side to the police many hoped they would not see.

The scenes are a reminder of Myanmar's authoritarian military past, from which it began to emerge four years ago under a nominally civilian government.

Tensions have been rising in Letpadan since last week, where police had blocked the students' path with vehicles and barbed wire barricades.

There had been reports of negotiations between the two sides, and earlier on Tuesday a breakthrough agreement was announced, granting the students permission to continue on their journey to their final destination - Yangon (also known as Rangoon), Myanmar's biggest city and former capital - in trucks provided by the government.

But the students were angered by the police's refusal to allow them to hoist flags, sing songs or travel in convoy, our reporter says, and they then attempted to break through police lines.

The students were trying to break through police lines

Many were reported to have sustained injuries

Reporters were chased away by police

Several of the protesters were detained