Myanmar security tight on anniversary

Hundreds of riot police and soldiers ringed a monument in downtown Yangon on Saturday as officials gathered to commemorate the shooting death 61 years ago of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's father.

Myanmar independence hero Gen. Aung San and other government leaders were assassinated by gunmen during a Cabinet meeting on July 19, 1947, shortly after Britain granted independence to the Southeast Asian colony.

Flags were flown at half staff in the capital to mark the day, a state holiday. Unlike past years, foreign diplomats were not invited to the tightly guarded wreath-laying ceremony at the Martyr's Monument located near the famed Shwedagon pagoda.