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Burma-unrest : Burma cancels Buddhi



Subject: Burma-unrest : Burma cancels Buddhist monk exams  following unrest

Burma-unrest : Burma cancels Buddhist monk exams
                            following unrest

                            RANGOON, March 28 (AFP) - Burma has cancelled
exams for
                            monks scheduled next week in Rangoon and the
northern city of
                            Mandalay following anti-Moslem communal unrest,
religious
                            sources said Friday.

                            The authorities postponed plans for hundreds of
monks to take
                            oral examinations and recitations at Buddhist
universities and have
                            not set a new date for the events, the sources said.

                            Analysts said the move appeared to be aimed at
preventing
                            further outbreaks of anti-Moslem violence which
has been
                            committed by Buddhist monks across the country
over the past
                            two weeks.

                            "They seem to have postponed them because of the
sensitive
                            situation at this point and I think the exams
will be held at a more
                            appropriate time," one Rangoon analyst said.

                            Rangoon was calm Friday as army trucks kept up a
conspicuous
                            presence outside the capital's main mosques and
other Moslem
                            properties. No anti-Moslem incidents were
reported during the day
                            or the previous evening.

                            "There is more security around mosques so people
are starting to
                            be more careful about what they are doing," said
one observer.

                            Some 100 monks were reportedly detained last
weekend after an
                            attack on a mosque frequented by Indonesian
embassy staff.

                            On Thursday, while tensions appeared to have
abated in
                            Rangoon, informed sources said that unrest had
broken out in
                            Prome, 160 kilometres (100 miles) to the north,
where three
                            mosques had been attacked last week.

                            At least 17 mosques and other Moslem properties
have been
                            attacked in Rangoon since last weekend after
unrest spread from
                            Mandalay, sparked by the alleged attempted rape
of a Buddhist
                            girl by a Moslem man. 

                            A night curfew in Mandalay, where a dozen
mosques have been
                            attacked since the unrest began, appeared to
still be in place on
                            Friday.

                            The Burmese government has blamed the unrest on
agitators bent
                            on sinking Burma's bid to join the Association
of Southeast Asian
                            Nations, whose membership includes the majority
Moslem
                            Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.