A high ranking defector from the ruling military junta who reached the border with Thailand yesterday says that the death toll from the recent crackdown on pro-reform protests is much worse than anyone can imagine:Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed. The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand." Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand. The treatment of the Buddhist monks who were in the vanguard of the protests has been shocking. Not only have hundreds of monks simply "disappeared" but there are reports that many...(Read Full Post)