Monk
Killed in Burma Unrest
By
PATRICK McDOWELL
Associate
d Press Writer
Thursday,
March 20, 1997 1:43 pm EST
BANGKOK,
Thailand (AP) -- A Buddhist monk has died from gunshot
wounds
suffered during anti-Muslim rioting in Mandalay, Burma, The
Associate
d Press has learned.
Diplomats
in the Burmese capital of Rangoon, speaking Thursday on
condition
of anonymity, said the monk died after rioting that targeted
Muslim-ow
ned property in response to the alleged rape of a Buddhist
girl by a
Muslim.
A curfew
was in effect in Mandalay, and police and soldiers were
patrollin
g the streets, the diplomats said in telephone interviews from
Bangkok,
Thailand. Mandalay residents confirmed their accounts of
activity
in the city, but not the death of the monk. The central city is
370 miles
north of Rangoon, the Burmese capital.
The
circumstances of the monk's death were unclear, the diplomats
said. But
Mandalay residents said security forces fired weapons over
the heads
of monks and other rioters sacking mosques and property
owned by
Muslims on Tuesday.
The
residents, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear
of
retaliation, said two monks were wounded by ricocheting bullets.
Residents
said soldiers and police were posted Thursday around some
monasteri
es and the city's biggest market was closed.
There
apparently is no connection between the riots and the conflict
between
the military government and pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi,
whose activities are increasingly restricted.
A
Thailand-based dissident group, the All-Burma Young Monks Union,
claimed
that the unrest in Mandalay was sparked by the deaths of 16
monks in
custody, but a government official, speaking on condition of
anonymity
, denied the claim.
The
official blamed the unrest of people trying to derail Burma's
expected
entry to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Muslim-do
minated Malaysia and Indonesia are key ASEAN members.
Burma has
been ruled by the military since 1962. The State Law and
Order
Restoration Council came to power in 1988 and killed thousands
of
anti-government protesters. The regime has opened the
long-isol
ated economy to free-market forces, but keeps a tight lid on
dissent.
Mandalay'
s 20,000 monks are militant, taking part in both the 1988
uprising
and in anti-government protests in 1990. The government has
banned
many of their organizations.