AFP-Yangon protests escalate, hundr

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Yangon protests escalate, hundreds of riot police deployed
Wed 02 Sep 98 - 10:42 GMT 

YANGON, Sept 2 (AFP) - An anti-junta protest escalated here Wednesday to
involve some 4,000 students as hundreds of riot police were deployed,
witnesses said.

Up to 800 students were chanting anti-junta slogans at the Yangon Institute
of Technology (YIT), while more than 3,000 more demonstrated at the nearby
Hlaing campus, where many of the institution's students live, they added.

At least six trucks of riot police, carrying some 50 officers each, were
seen arriving at Hlaing, about three kilometres (two miles) south of the
YIT in central Yangon, and up to 200 more were deployed around the main YIT
campus, diplomats and witnesses said.

The Hlaing campus is shared by the YIT and Yangon University.

"They are chanting things like: 'End the military government,'" a western
diplomat said.

Security forces had sealed off areas around both protest sites for up to
three kilometres (1.8 miles miles) but made no move to intervene, the
witnesses added.

The riot police were armed with shields and batons but no firearms were
seen.

A senior Asian diplomat said he was optimistic the protest would end
peacefully but expressed fear violence could erupt.

"They have experience with Thailand and Indonesia," he added, referring to
protests in those countries which ended in bloodshed.

"They know if they allow it to go on there will be problems.

"I am sure if they can't stop (the protest), the military troops will
come."

The diplomat said neighbouring countries were avoiding involvement with the
protests, in line with the regional non-interventionist policy.

"We try not to intervene in this matter," he added. "It is internal."