SCMP-Student exiles mark uprising a

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Subject: SCMP-Student exiles mark uprising anniversary

South China Morning Post
Monday, August 9, 1999
BURMA

Student exiles mark uprising anniversary
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Rangoon

Former students driven into exile after a failed uprising 11 years ago
slashed their bodies yesterday at a protest in neighbouring Thailand against
continued military rule in their homeland. But Burma itself was calm.
There was little evidence yesterday in Rangoon that the public, who had
suffered under military rule for four decades, would heed appeals by exiles
and stage a new revolt on the 11th anniversary of one that was crushed in
bloodshed.

The Government did not deploy extra security in Rangoon.

Few people wore yellow, as had been urged by the opposition, to honour the
thousands killed over a decade ago. There was no sign of rice hoarding.

In Thailand, about 80 former students and Buddhist monks staged a noisy
protest outside the Burmese Embassy and chanted "democracy - now, human
rights - now".

Half a dozen protesters slashed their arms with razor blades and smeared
blood onto a protest poster, which was then set alight.

"Inside Burma, there's a lot of pressure on the opposition and the
students," said Thet Oo, general-secretary of the Burma Students Association
and a leader of the 1988 uprising. "They cannot do much, but we must try."

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent six years under house
arrest and still lives under tight restrictions in Rangoon, urged the
military in a text released on Saturday to allow democracy, saying there
would be no retribution for their harsh rule.

State-run media yesterday called her an "ogress".


Thailand would help Burma establish accords with its warring ethnic
minorities if the junta agreed to reach settlements through peaceful
negotiation, Thai army chief General Surayud Chulanond said yesterday.