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Reuters : FOCUS-Myanmar says foreig



FOCUS-Myanmar says foreign activists broke laws 
05:00 a.m. Aug 10, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 

YANGON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government said on Monday
that 18 foreign activists detained in the country had broken at least two
laws by distributing pro-democracy leaflets in Yangon. 

A government spokesman said the activists, detained in Yangon on Sunday
after handing out thousands of leaflets urging people to remember a
pro-democracy uprising 10 years ago, were being held for questioning. 

He declined to say if they would be charged or deported. 

``At the moment, I can't say the extent of legal action that will be taken
against them.'' 

He said the activists had broken at least two Myanmar laws, including the
Registration of Printers and Publishers Act. 

Police detained six Americans, an Australian and Thais, Malaysians,
Indonesians and Philipinos after pro-democracy supporters distributed
leaflets at eight points in the capital. 

Activists said they handed out about 10,000 of the red, palm-sized leaflets
throughout Yangon with the message ``8888 -- Don't forget -- Don't give
up.'' 

On August 8, 1988, soldiers fired on a pro-democracy demonstration near
Yangon city hall, killing many civilians. Opposition supporters say
thousands of people were killed in the unrest that followed, but the
government says the death toll was only a few dozen. 

Australian and Thai embassy officials in Yangon said they had no word on
whether their nationals would be deported or charged. 

``The gut feeling is that they probably will be deported,'' said one
Australian diplomat. 

But an Asian diplomat said he would be surprised if Myanmar released the
activists without some sort of punishment. 

``I think they will get at least a year's jail,'' he said. 

The government said the activists, who had been ``attempting to incite
unrest,'' were being held at two locations in Yangon. 

The government spokesman said the activists had been organised by the
Alternative ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Network on
Burma (Altsean-Burma), which supports Myanmar's democracy movement. 

Altsean-Burma issued a statement in Bangkok on Monday giving the names of
those detained. It said they included lawyers, academics, business people
and students and had gone to Myanmar to commemorate Saturday's anniversary
with a ``goodwill message.'' 

The human rights group Amnesty International also expressed concern. 

``We are shocked to learn of the detentions. We condemn the action and urge
the Myanmar government to release those detained immediately,'' Somsri
Hananantasuk, Amnesty's representative in Thailand, told reporters in
Bangkok. 

Yangon was quieter than normal quiet on Saturday's anniversary of the 1988
crackdown as many people stayed off the streets for fear of trouble. 

Tension between the government and the opposition National League for
Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi has risen ahead of an NLD deadline for
the government to convene by August 21 a parliament of members elected in
May 1990. The NLD won that election but the government has ignored the
result. 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's national hero
and founding father Aung San, promised last week she would not be
intimidated by the military and vowed to bring democracy to Burma.