Troops pull back from medical schoo

[082903@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Troops pull back from medical school, Suu Kyi still confined.


	Troops pull back from medical school, Suu Kyi still confined
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            RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Heavy security around a downtown 
	    Rangoon medical
            school was lifted Sunday after the government sent nearly all 
	    the students back
            to their homes in the countryside to quell the largest street 
	    demonstrations
            since a 1988 nationwide democracy uprising. 

            Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained confined to her home,
            however, disappointing about 200 followers who hoped she 
	    would appear on
            the streets and speak to them. 

            The government has accused Suu Kyi of fomenting the recent 
	    unrest, but
            students who staged demonstrations in Rangoon and Mandalay 
	    last week have
            denied any link to her or her political party. They are 
	    calling for an end to
            police brutality, the right to form a students union and more 
	    civil liberties. 

            Medical University No. 1, where security was lifted Sunday, 
	    was the site of
            several sit-ins last week. Students said three people were 
	    arrested. The school's
            dormitory appeared to be empty Sunday. 

            Burma's military government responded to the weeklong 
	    demonstrations by
            closing most schools, arresting some students and members of 
	    Suu Kyi's party,
            sending students home, blocking off roads with troops and 
	    riot police and
            stationing tanks in downtown Rangoon. 

            Despite skirmishes in Rangoon last week in which rocks were 
	    thrown and
            some young people were beaten, the military's response was 
	    mild compared
            with the brutality it unleashed in 1988, gunning down more 
	    than 3,000
            protesters, jailing thousands and closing schools for three 
	    years. 

            The 1988 protests built up over several months, however, and 
	    there were
            periods then when the military seemed to be taking a softer 
	    line, only to lash
            out violently later on. 

            But with schools closed, students on their way home and 
	    protest leaders
            hiding, under surveillance or in jail, the military seems to 
	    have succeeded in
            stopping the civil disobedience for the time being. 

            The challenge for the military now is to open schools as soon 
	    as possible
            without facing a recurrence of the demonstrations. 

            The regime's insistence on blaming Suu Kyi for the protests, 
	    and confining her
            as punishment, is pushing some Western governments to 
	    consider punitive
            action against Burma, also known as Myanmar. 

            The European Union has condemned the restrictions on Suu Kyi 
	    and members
            of President Clinton's administration have been meeting 
	    during the past few
            days to discuss possible actions against Burma's military 
	    rulers. 

	    [FOX, 15 December 1996].

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