NEWS - Myanmar arrests 110 more NLD

[TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar arrests 110 more NLD members, opposition says

       Tue 08 Sep 98 - 10:28 GMT 

       YANGON, Sept 8 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta has arrested a further 110
members of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League
       for Democracy (NLD) party, bringing the total detained in the
past three days to 220, opposition officials said Tuesday.

       The NLD said in a statement that 73 of those arrested in various
parts of the country since Sunday were members of parliament
       elected in the 1990 polls which the opposition won by a
landslide.

       "The NLD strongly condemns and protests these arrests and demands
their immediate release," the opposition party said in a
       statement.

       The junta arrested some 110 NLD members on Sunday and Monday,
opposition officials said earlier.

       Observers in Yangon said the arrests appeared to be a pre-emptive
strike following the NLD's announcement that it intends
       unilaterally to convene the parliament elected in 1990 by the end
of this month.

       "I can't confirm exact figures but a large number have been
detained," one diplomat said Tuesday.

       "There was no brutality, it was handled very smoothly. They are
being held in government guesthouses but their freedom of
       movement has definitely been curtailed," the envoy added.

       The military refused to hand over power after the election eight
years ago. It has rejected demands by the NLD-led opposition that
       the 1990 parliament be convened, saying a new national
constitution must be written first.