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NEWS - Opposition: Myanmar Governm



Opposition: Myanmar Government Detains More than 300

            AP
            09-SEP-98

            YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- In a strike against the opposition's
plan to
            convene a parliament elected in 1990, Myanmar's military
government
            has arrested 303 members of pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu
            Kyi's political party, the party said today. 

            Among those arrested in the crackdown that began Sunday were
129
            members of parliament, said Tin Oo, vice chairman of Suu
Kyi's
            National League for Democracy. 

            Party leaders asked for a meeting with generals from the
ruling military
            council today to discuss the arrests, the party said in a
statement.
            There was no response from the government. 

            "The National League for Democracy calls for the
unconditional
            release of its members and strongly condemns the arbitrary
arrests by
            the authorities," the party said. 

            Since May, 187 elected members of parliament plus 334 other
            National League for Democracy members have been imprisoned
by
            the military, the party said. 

            Several Western governments, including the United States,
and
            international human rights groups have issued sharp
condemnations
            of the crackdown in Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

            Tin Oo said that not only National League for Democracy
members
            had been arrested but also members of political parties
representing
            some ethnic groups, such as the Chins, the Mon and the
Rakhines. 

            Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the arrests began.
Her
            movements have been sharply restricted by the military. 

            A commentary in state-run newspapers, meanwhile, suggested
that
            Suu Kyi had been conspiring with Western countries to create
            disturbances and should be deported for allegedly concealing
that she
            was a British citizen. 

            Personal attacks on Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize
            and was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, are common in
the
            state press but in recent weeks there has been more mention
than
            usual of deporting her. 

            Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections,
but the
            military has never allowed Parliament to meet. The military
had warned
            the party that convening Parliament on its own would result
in arrests.