Myanmar tightens vigilance of polit

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

 Myanmar tightens vigilance of political opposition 
02:28 a.m. Jul 05, 1998 Eastern 

BANGKOK, July 5 (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military said it had stepped
up vigilance of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to
prevent the party from disrupting the reopening of universities closed due
to political unrest. 

A military statement seen in Bangkok on Sunday said authorities had ordered
elected NLD politicians outside the capital Yangon to report to local
authorities. 

It said the measure was taken ``with a view to avoid unnecessary and
unwanted head-on collision, confrontation and instability from taking place
in the country.'' 

It charged the opposition with planning political confrontation and
agitation to coincide with the eventual resumption of university classes. 

``The authorities...have no choice but to enforce the laws being intended
to maintain stability in the country and to ensure that students are given
the right to pursue their education without being exploited by any
political organisation for their own politicisation,'' it said. 

The regime shut universities and colleges in Yangon and most other big
cities in December 1996 in the wake of student-led street demonstrations in
the capital and other cities that led to the brief detention of hundreds of
protesters who sympathised with the NLD. 

The military accused the NLD of abetting the demonstrations, a charge
denied by the opposition party. 

The regime last month announced it would allow undergraduate university
students to sit for exams for the first time since schools were closed but
gave no exact date. 

The statement did not confirm or deny allegations made by exiled Myanmar
students earlier last week that over 40 NLD supporters had been arrested. 

Opposition sources said last week authorities were preparing a special cell
in the notorious Insein Prison for opposition leader and Nobel Peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, days after threatening to take legal action
against her. 

The latest threat follows demands by Suu Kyi and the NLD that the
government convene parliament by August 2 in accordance with the results of
the 1990 election. The NLD swept the election, but its victory was never
recognised by the military. 

Yangon-based diplomats, however, downplayed the opposition's fears. They
said the threat of legal action may be merely an attempt at intimidation
with neither the government nor the opposition actually spoiling for a
fight.