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Bangkok Post News (15/10/98)



Junta releases 10, says more will go home
More pro-government rallies in Shan State

Burma's military said yesterday it had released 10 members of the country's
main opposition party last week after contacts with dissident groups.
"The government expects more of the view-exchanges to conclude in coming
weeks, and for more National League for Democracy members to return home,"
an official statement said.
"All those involved in view-exchanges are working together to achieve the
common goals" to build a stable, multiparty democracy and to preserve the
prevailing peace that Burma enjoys.
The junta had said the NLD members had been "invited" for a political
discussion. It said they were at government guest houses and had not been
arrest.
"While the view-exchanges between the government and other NLD members are
continuing under a cordial atmosphere in government guest-houses, the
government hopes the NLD leadership will contribute a positive and
meaningful way to achieve the common goals," the statement said.
The NLD says 967 members have been detained in recent months, including 203
members of the parliament elected in 1990 polls which the NLD-led
opposition won by a landslide.
Some 23,000 people attended a pro-government rally at a sports stadium in
eastern Burma's Shan State, official said yesterday.
A statement from the office of the junta's spokesman said those at the
rally on Tuesday in Lashio Township adopted two motions supporting efforts
by the military to "safeguard and maintain" economic development and
stability in the country.
Similar rallies sponsored in recent weeks by the junta in Rangoon, Mandaday
and and other cities each attracted 20,000 to 30,000 people showing support
for the military.
The rallies, attended mainly by civil servants and members of government
sponsored groups, have been among the ruling military's most visible
efforts to counter mounting pressure from the NLD demanding the convening
of the parliament elected in 1990.
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