ABC Exclusive: An Insider's View of Myanmar Protest

It's Day 11 of the protests here in Yangon, formerly Rangoon, and the mood is very tense.

Security is tight, and the military has shut down the inner city. One of Yangon's holiest shrines is closed, along with four others.

These are anxious times. The extreme violence of the past two days has made everyone very cautious. The fear of being beaten or killed is on everyone's minds.

The government has severed paths to the outside world, blocking the Internet, the only way the people of Myanmar, formerly Burma, can show their uprising to the outside world. Newly laid barbed wire lines the streets, and it seems the soldiers have complete control.

Yesterday, a Japanese photographer was shot at point-blank range. He died from his injuries. He was armed with only a camera.

This brutal regime has once again shown its capabilities.

The defiance, for now, has been muted. Small pockets of people continue to gather. But most are uncertain of how to push on with these protests. They say they will settle for nothing less than an end to military rule.

At this moment, it seems the government is winning the standoff.

Now the hope is pinned on the imminent arrival of United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

Maybe he will be able to stop the bloodshed.