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Reuters-Myanmar opposition says 882



Myanmar opposition says 882 NLD members detained 
09:00 a.m. Sep 21, 1998 Eastern 

YANGON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Myanmar's opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) said on Monday 882 of its members had been detained by the
military government since the end of May. 

The NLD, led by charismatic 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,
said in a statement that 196 of the total detainees were elected
representatives and 686 were other members from across the country. 

The government has cracked down hard on the party over the last month since
it promised to convene a ``People's Parliament.'' 

The NLD won Myanmar's only recent democratic election in May 1990 by a
landslide but its members never took their seats after the government
refused to recognise the results of the poll. 

The government said Myanmar was not ready for democracy and needed a
constitution before a parliament could be convened. 

It has said it is holding an unspecified number of ``invited guests'' from
the NLD in government guest houses in response to the NLD's threat to call
parliament, which is says is illegal. 

The NLD said last Thursday that a 10-person committee it formed last week
would act for the parliament elected in 1990. 

It named a ``chairman'' of parliament and declared laws introduced since
the military seized direct control on September 18, 1988, illegal unless
approved by the body. 

Political analysts say the step, apparently bold and defiant and well-timed
ahead of a U.N. session this week, was essentially a symbolic gesture. 

The military has reacted coolly to the NLD move, saying it was another ploy
by the NLD to force the government into harsh measures ahead of the U.N.
assembly.