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Reuters-Myanmar opposition says 108



Myanmar opposition says 108 more members held 
08:56 a.m. Sep 09, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 



YANGON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Myanmar's National League for Democracy said on
Wednesday that 108 more of its members had been detained in the past 24
hours, bringing the number held in a crackdown that began at the weekend to
more than 300. 



The military government has confirmed it has detained NLD members over the
opposition party's vow to call a ``People's Parliament'' this month, but it
has not given numbers. 



Diplomats say the detentions mean the NLD, landslide winners of Myanmar's
last election in 1990 but never allowed to govern, would be able to
assemble only a handful of elected representatives if it were to stick to
its vow. 



The London-based human rights group Amnesty International has called for
the immediate release of those detained. 



Human Rights Watch condemned what it termed a ``major new clampdown'' and
called on Japan, the European Union and the Association of South East Asian
Nations, whose foreign ministers are to meet in New York on September 23
and 24, to condemn the detentions and urge Myanmar to allow free
participation in politics. 



The government denied in a statement on Wednesday that it had threatened to
deport NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and said the U.S. State Department was
wrong to suggest it had. 



It said articles that appeared in state newspapers on Tuesday calling for
her deportation were the opinion of one individual. 



``The government of Myanmar noted with concern the inaccurate remarks by
U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin on September 8 regarding
'arbitrary detentions' of opposition figures and 'a decision to deport' Ms
Suu Kyi,'' it said. 



``Myanmar welcomes any efforts by the United States and the international
community to help Myanmar maintain the current stability during its
transition to multiparty democracy. Irresponsible remarks by uninformed
observers only make the transition more difficult and should be avoided,''
it said. 



In a regular news briefing on Tuesday, Rubin condemned the calls in the
government's official media for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be
deported, saying: 



``A decision to deport Aung San Suu Kyi would only ratchet up the
international response.'' 



He also said: ``Arbitrary detentions are unjustifiable and will only worsen
rather than solve the political crisis.'' 



Rubin said the United States was greatly concerned by the situation in
Myanmar and was seeking ways to increase pressure on the country. 



Washington already maintains strict sanctions on the Southeast Asian state
and has urged other regional states to follow suit, although they have been
reluctant to do so. 



The NLD said the number of its members detained since Tuesday included
eight more who won seats in the election. On Tuesday, it said 220 of its
members had been detained, including 63 elected representatives, since the
weekend. 



The latest NLD statement said that in all, 187 people who won seats in 1990
had been detained since May 27, when a party congress resolved to demand
the calling of parliament. It said 334 NLD organisers had also been
detained since then. 



The NLD said it had requested a Wednesday meeting with the government to
discuss the detentions, but received no response. 



The government statement said no NLD members had been arrested. It said
they had been ``invited'' to government guest houses where they were being
comfortably housed and had been ``very cooperative.''