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Myanmar Rallys on 8.8.89



Myanmars rally on 10th year of democracy uprising

 .c Kyodo News Service    

TOKYO, Aug. 8 (Kyodo) - Over 100 Myanmar citizens staged a rally at the
Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo on Saturday to mourn those killed in democracy
uprisings in 1988, before embarking on a 60-hour fast to demand the ruling
junta hold talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

In front of the embassy, they enacted scenes of people being shot, arrested
and beaten in 1988 when nationwide pro-democracy protests led to a military
coup that resulted in the setting up of the junta's State Law and Order
Restoration Council, the predecessor to the current State Peace and
Development Council. 

A joint statement by pro-democracy dissident groups called on the junta to
enter into political dialogue with the National League for Democracy (NLD) led
by 53-year-old Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi. They also called for parliament
to be convened in accordance with an NLD ultimatum to the junta to convene by
Aug. 21 a parliament of lawmakers mandated by the 1990 elections, in which the
NLD won a landslide victory but which the junta annulled. 

Khin Maung Zaw, head of the Burma Youth Volunteer Association, said in a
speech that Suu Kyi has time and again proved she is an able leader and that
''we (Myanmars) can do no wrong by following her.'' 

Win Khet, an elderly self-exiled NLD member, said Saturday's rally was a
success in itself because it showed that Myanmar people are still set on
gaining democracy eight years after the 1990 election results were dishonored.

AP-NY-08-08-98 0733EDT