Burmese Regime Curtails Religious F

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BANGKOK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Myanmar's (Burma's) ruling State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) has curtailed religious freedom by forcing pro-
democracy activists to get permission to enter the monkhood, an exiled
students group said on Tuesday. 

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) said members of Nobel
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)
were now required to obtain permission from authorities should they wish to
enroll as monks in the predominently Buddhist country. 

It is a tradition in many Buddhist nations that devotees spend at least seven
days as monks or nuns during their lives. 

``Although the military regime previously placed various kinds of restrictions
on the NLD and their associates for their political activities this is
believed to be the first time the authorities have begun to obstruct social
and religious activities of party members and their families,'' the Thailand-
based students group said in a statement. 

``The All Burma Students' Democratic Front considers the restrictions placed
on NLD members and their families as immoral and pure harassment and
intimidation,'' it added. 

The ruling State Peace and Development Council, which adopted its name in
November, was previously known as the State Law and Order restoration Council
(SLORC). 

The SLORC, which had ruled Myanmar since brutally crushing a popular uprising
in 1988, has occasionally cracked down on the activities of monks some of
which were involved in those demonstrations. 

Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide election victory in 1990 which