Myanmar arrests 54 mid claims of an

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<bold>Myanmar arrests 54 mid claims of an international plot

</bold>


Burma has arrested 54 people in connection with an alleged international
plot to "incite anarchy" and topple the military government here, junta
officials said Wednesday.


Those arrested included 23 members of the National League for Democracy
(NLD) opposition party, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
Colonel Thein Swe of the junta's office of strategic studies said.


A junta statement said the plot involved non-government organisations
based in the United States, Canada and Thailand, and had Western
financial support.


"Some Western, neo-colonialist super powers are giving both financial aid
and manpower assistance to government opposition groups under the
camouflage of democracy and human rights because they wish to bring about
the collapse of our country," the 15-page statement said.


The junta said those arrested had distributed seditious pamphlets and
"created disturbances" to provoke government as part of the NLD's stated
aim to convene the parliament elected in 1990 but which never met.


Groups involved included NLD, the All Burma Students Union,
Thailand-based Alternative Asean Network of Burma, All Burma Students
Democratic Front (ABSDF), and the Karen National Union.


Foreign groups allegedly involved include Open Society Institute founded
by billionaire US financier George Soros, US-based National Endowment for
Democracy and the International Center for Human Rights and Democratic
Development of Canada.


"The western bloc countries and so-called NGO's (non-government
organisations), in the name of democracy, are using all possible devious
means and exerting all kinds of pressure to destabilise the internal
situation," the statement said.


Meanwhile, the junta's daily "information sheet" said more than 26,000
people had gathered in Mawlamyine town, Mon State, Tuesday to "express
their genuine desire to oppose the NLD's activities."


Another such "rally," where civil servants and other state employees
listen to speakers denounce Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, was believed to
have been held in eastern Shan State on Wednesday.


In August, 18 foreigners were detained and deported for allegedly trying
to "incite unrest" by distributing a message supporting human rights and
democracy printed on business-card sized pamphlets.


The NLD won 1990 elections in a landslide but the junta has refused to
give up power and is accused of arresting hundreds of dissidents,
including about 200 NLD members, since May.


Opposition groups have said it is the biggest crackdown on the democracy
movement in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since the brutal crushing
of student demonstrations in 1988.


"(Wednesday's announcement) is a sign that the junta will not give in to
any outside pressure," ABSDF spokesman Aung Naing Oo told AFP in
Bangkok.


"The people will fight this (latest crackdown) tooth and nail. There will
be a confrontation and lives will be lost."


The announcement came as the European Union and the United Nations
stepped up pressure on Yangon to improve its human rights record and
release political prisoners.


UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson called on the junta
Tuesday to release political prisoners and allow the special rapporteur
on Myanmar, Rajsoomer Lallah, to conduct a field mission.


EU foreign ministers on Monday expressed "deep concern" about the
"deteriorating political and human rights situation" in Myanmar.


The ministers urged authorities in Yangon to "take steps towards
democracy and national reconciliation" and lift "all restrictions on the
freedom of movement of Daw (honorific) Aung San Suu Kyi."


The junta told AFP in a statement Tuesday that interference by western
countries was jeopardizing the country's "transition to democracy."


Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, Thein Swe said the ruling
military council was not planning any drastic action against the
opposition.