NEWS - Myanmar junta launches Inter (r)

[GGalanek@xxxxxxxxxxx]

nevermind about that last one- I found it somewhere.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [SMTP:TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent:	Friday, September 11, 1998 1:32 AM
> To:	Recipients of burmanet-l
> Subject:	NEWS - Myanmar junta launches Internet offensive on NLD
> arrest accus
> 
> NOTE: Does anyone want to go to Thomas Winn's house/office in
> Laurel,Maryland to demonstrate?  He is the www.myanmar.com's
> administrator.
> 
> Myanmar junta launches Internet offensive on NLD arrest accusations
> 
>        Thu 10 Sep 98 - 13:05 GMT 
> 
>        BANGKOK, Sept 10 (AFP) - Myanmar's military government took to
> the Internet on Thursday in an offensive against international
>        condemnation of its detention of hundreds of pro-democracy
> opposition members.
> 
>        In an apparent move to ward of criticism, the junta posted
> pictures on its website of the detained National League for Democracy
>        (NLD) members eating and lounging around at various "government
> guesthouses."
> 
>        "Here are some photos of the NLD members who have been invited by
> the government to ask for their cooperation to help maintain
>        the current peace, stability and development of the nation," the
> webpage said.
> 
>        Captions to the four photos included "Invited guests enjoying
> watching TV" and "Invited guests enjoying lunch," showing several
>        people around a table laden with bowls of rice and other dishes.
> 
>        The pictures and text published on the junta's website can be
> found at -- http://www.myanmar.com/nld/nld.htm -- and carries English,
>        German, French and Japanese translations.
> 
>        Myanmar's opposition said Wednesday the military had arrested 108
> more of its members, bringing the number detained since
>        Sunday to 328, as international condemnation of the detentions
> increased.
> 
>        The NLD headed by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said in a
> statement some 521 party members, including 187 members
>        of parliament elected in 1990 polls, had been arrested since May
> this year following the commemoration of the eighth anniversary of
>        elections there.
> 
>        The NLD-led opposition won the polls in a landslide, but the
> junta has refused to handover power and rejected repeated calls for a
>        parliament to be convened.
> 
>        Observers in Yangon have said the arrests appear to be a
> pre-emptive strike following the NLD's announcement it intends
> unilaterally
>        to convene by the end of September the parliament elected in
> 1990.
> 
>        The junta said in a statement Tuesday the party members had
> merely been invited for a political discussion, were being housed in
>        government guest houes and had not been arrested. 
> 
>        But the US embassy in Yangon said military officials had admitted
> they were being detained to thwart the convening of parliament.
> 
>        Overseas criticism of the arrests intensified late Wednesday. The
> United States said it "deplores in the strongest of terms" the
>        detentions while Britain said it "wholly condemns" the arrests.
> 
>        London also urged its EU partners to adopt its positions of
> discouraging tourism, trade or investment in Myanmar.
> 
>        Germany condemned "the fresh wave of repression and intimidation"
> by the junta while Japan called for the detainees to be freed.
> 
>        Diplomats in Yangon on Thursday said the opposition figures
> detained by the junta were being treated reasonably well and were in
>        no apparent danger.
> 
>        Before being held at government guesthouses in recent days they
> had been allowed to gather clothes, toiletries and any necessary
>        medication, added the diplomats, including envoys from western
> states vigorously opposed to the junta.