Birtley witnessed the brutal crackdown on protests by the Myanmar government [Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley spent nearly two weeks undercover in Myanmar filming the massive popular uprising against the country’s military rulers.

He was on the streets of Yangon as monks led the people in an open show of defiance.

And as the only foreign television news correspondent in the former capital he witnessed the brutal crackdown by the army.

Often in disguise and posing as a tourist, Birtley came under fire with the protestors and worked under the constant threat of arrest by the Myanmar authorities.

In this 30-minute programme featuring scenes of the clampdown never aired before, he speaks to the ordinary people and the monks of Myanmar about the uprising and their hopes and fears for the country’s uncertain future.