Burma's military junta risked further international isolation last night as the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss the regime's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
The European Union and the US have called on the Security Council to consider sanctions after at least three people were killed during clashes in Rangoon yesterday.
The demonstrations, involving thousands of Buddhists monks and civilians, are the biggest show of defiance against the junta in almost two decades.
"We condemn all violence against peaceful demonstrators and remind the country's leaders of their personal responsibilities their actions," said a joint EU-US statement issued after European foreign ministers met US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on the fringes of the UN general assembly.
In Britain, prime minister Gordon Brown called for the Security Council to impose sanctions, saying "the whole world is now watching" Burma.
"Its illegitimate and oppressive regime should know that the whole world is going to hold it to account," he said at the Labour Party's annual conference. "The age of impunity in neglecting and overriding human rights is over.
Any proposal on what action the UN should take against the Burmese leadership will have to overcome resistance from China and Russia. The two countries, both of which have economic interests in Burma, vetoed a resolution earlier this year calling on the regime to begin moves towards democracy.
They have argued that the current situation in Burma is purely an internal matter.
"We consider any attempts to use the latest developments to exercise outside pressure or interference in the domestic affairs of this sovereign state to be counterproductive," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The crisis has dominated this week's UN general assembly. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday he was dispatching the UN's special envoy for Burma to the region, urging the military junta to co-operate fully.
Earlier, he had called again for the country's leadership to "exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations".
On Tuesday, US president George Bush used his annual general assembly address to announce tightened US sanctions against the junta.