Myanmar junta releases seven opposi

[tinkyi@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar junta releases seven opposition party members

Fri 25 Sep 98 - 05:10 GMT

YANGON, Sept 25 (AFP) - Military authorities in Myanmar have released seven
opposition party members from detention after weeks of what they call an
exchange of views, an official statement said Friday.

Other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were still in
detention but were being well cared for, the junta said.

"View exchanges between the government and other NLD members are continuing
and are being held in a cordial atmosphere in government guesthouses," the
statement said.

"All of those involved in view exchanges are working together to build a
stable, multi-party democracy and to
preserve the prevailing peace that Myanmar enjoys."

Opposition groups say more than 1,200 dissidents, including up to 196 NLD
MPs, have been arrested since May this year in what they describe as the
worst crackdown on the democracy movement since the brutal suppression of
student demonstrations in 1988.

The junta says none of those detained have been arrested and "expects more
of the view exchanges to conclude in coming weeks."

The crackdown coincides with the NLD's push to convene the parliament which
was elected in 1990 but has never been allowed to sit.

The NLD won a landslide victory in the election but the junta has refused to
give up power and placed severe
restrictions on NLD leaders including Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The junta Friday maintained its propoganda war against the opposition, using
the state-controlled press to portray Aung San Suu Kyi as a puppet of
unidentified "foreign masters."

"The neo-colonialists are planting their axe-handles and still continuing to
subvert and put the nation in the hands of those who will submit to their
dictates," an article in the New Light of Myanmar said.

The junta regularly accuses Aung San Suu Kyi of being a traitor to her race
and country because she married an Englishman.

Under the headline "Why so tolerant?" the article recounted a "rally" of
about 20,000 supporters of the junta which took place near Yangon on
Thursday.

"Without mincing words the speakers took note of the fact that the NLD, as
conspirators, are following the dictates of their foreign masters who would
allow them to rule as surrogate," it said.

Aung San Suu Kyi recently called on foreign support for the plan to convene
parliament and has urged the
international community to maintain sanctions against Yangon.


)AFP 1998