Japan has cancelled a multi-million dollar grant to Burma to protest the crackdown on demonstrators as well as the death of journalist Kenji Nagai who was shot execution style by a Burmese soldier during the protests:

Japan had earlier said it would suspend some assistance in response to the death of Kenji Nagai, a Japanese journalist among at least 10 people killed when troops fired into crowds of peaceful protesters during the Sept. 26-27 crackdown.

Diplomats and dissidents say that the death toll is much higher. In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said the government was canceling a grant worth $4.7 million for a business education center slated for the Yangon University campus. Machimura said the decision was made in response to the crackdown and followed a U.N. statement condemning the violence.

In 2005, Japan provided grants totaling $11.2 million and $14.7 million in technology assistance to Myanmar, according to the latest Foreign Ministry figures. Video footage of Nagai's death appeared to show a soldier shooting the journalist at close range on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.

A commentary in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper Sunday blamed Nagai for having "invited danger" by attending the protests.

Gambari met with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who said the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations wants to "see the success" of his negotiating work.

But the minister also said that ASEAN will not consider suspending Myanmar as a member and rejected any proposal for economic sanctions. "Dialogue and negotiations are still the best process," Syed Hamid said. "Nobody can talk when you are threatening all sorts of things."