THE United Nations' Security Council has urged Burma's military government to exercise restraint towards peaceful protesters.

The council expressed concern at the government's violent response to demonstrations in the reclusive Asian nation - renamed Myanmar by the military junta - and gave its strong backing to the UN secretary-general's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari.

The move followed a call from Prime Minister Gordon Brown for an urgent meeting of the Security Council to make clear to the junta that "the whole world is now watching Burma".