Reuters-FOCUS-Yangon sees biggest s

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FOCUS-Yangon sees biggest student protest in years 
08:22 a.m. Sep 02, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 

YANGON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Myanmar students on Wednesday staged their
biggest protest in years against the country's military government. 

About 700 students held a sit-in at the Yangon Institute of Technology
campus, about 12 km (seven miles) north of the city centre. 

Truckloads of helmeted riot police armed with shields and batons surrounded
the campus, blocking off roads leading there after the protest began at
about 9.30 a.m. (0300 GMT). 

A diplomat contacted in Yangon from Bangkok quoted witnesses as saying the
students shouted for the downfall of the military government which took
power by crushing a student-led pro-democracy uprising 10 years ago. 

Other witnesses said the students were demanding the postponement of
examinations. 

Security police prevented correspondents from visiting the scene, but the
diplomat said witnesses heard the students shouting pro-democracy slogans,
including: ``We don't want a military government. We're not afraid of
you.'' 

A university official told Reuters school authorities asked the students to
leave the campus and began sending them back to their hostels in the late
afternoon. 

A government spokesman said all the students dispersed and the authorities
had not had to intervene. 

Universities thoughout the country have been closed since student protests
in 1996, but reopened recently to allow students to take examinations. 

On August 24, students at the institute and from Yangon University staged
the first open street protests against the government since the 1996
demonstrations. 

In those August protests, which were broken up by riot police, the
protesters gave out leaflets backing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy's vow to convene a parliament. 

The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has warned the NLD
through the state press it could be outlawed if it tried to carry out its
vow and that the armed forces would not stand idle if it tried to stir up
unrest. 

In a statement on Wednesday the government said an NLD parliament would
amount to setting up a parallel government, ``which no government in the
world would accept.'' 

It said the Karen National Union, an ethnic rebel group that has fought for
decades for greater autonomy for the Karen state, would act as the armed
wing of the NLD, endangering the government's national reconciliation
efforts. 

``In this scenario the Government of Myanmar will be left with no choice
but to take necessary legal action in safeguarding its national security,''
the statement said. 

A government spokesman added: ``We can't allow national security to be
affected. We are ready to take all necessary action once it is in danger.
But it is too early to say what exact measures we will take. 

On Wednesday morning, foreign diplomats met Suu Kyi in Yangon to discuss
her party's standoff with the government. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy called it ``a routine meeting'' with a
legal political party, adding that the aim was ``to foster dialogue,
national reconciliation and a peaceful transition to democracy.'' 

One diplomat said Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, had shown no
sign of willingness to compromise with the military, which has long refused
to enter a dialogue with her. 

``I'm not optimistic about compromise. She's playing hardball,'' the
diplomat said. 

Suu Kyi told supporters last weekend she intends to convene a ``People's
Parliament'' in September. 

The diplomat said Suu Kyi, who has staged a series of gruelling roadside
protests against restrictions on her movements in the last two months,
showed no signs of ill-health, despite worries expressed last month by her
party. 

``Her health is apparently fine. She was bright and chirpy and quite
cheerful,'' the diplomat said.