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Myanmar junta lashes out at US over



Myanmar junta lashes out at US over criticism of NLD detentions

       Wed 09 Sep 98 - 12:27 GMT

BANGKOK, Sept 9 (AFP) - Myanmar's military government Wednesday lashed out
at Washington for criticising the
large-scale detention of members of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy
opposition party.

"No member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has been arrested or
charged with any crime," a
statement from the office of the junta's spokesman received here said.

"Irresponsible remarks by uninformed observers only make the transition (to
multi-party democracy) more difficult,"
it said, adding that the opposition figures concerned had simply been
invited for discussions.

"The NLD members have been very cooperative, and are being comfortably
housed in government guesthouses."

On Tuesday NLD members said the military government had arrested 110 more of
its members, bringing the total
number of arrests since the weekend to 220.

The United States on Tuesday condemned the arrests, which it said would only
worsen a simmering political crisis
in Myanmar. State Department spokesman James Rubin said Washington had
protested through its embassy.

Japan on Wednesday backed the US protests, urging Myanmar's junta to
immediately free the arrested opposition
figures.

The arrests appeared to constitute a pre-emptive strike after the NLD's
announcement that it intends unilaterally to
convene by the end of this month the parliament elected in 1990.

The US embassy in Yangon said military officials had admitted that the
activists were being detained to thwart the
convening of parliament and that they were unsure when they would be
released.

US charge d'affaires Kent Wiedemann held high-level talks with military
officials on Monday to demand the
detainees be freed, an embassy spokesperson said.

Myanmar opposition parties spearheaded by the NLD won 1990 elections by a
landslide, but the military has denied
them power and rejected demands that parliament be convened.

The junta has said it opposes convening parliament until a new national
constitution is drawn up to facilitate the
transition from military rule to a "multi-party democracy."


)AFP 1998