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AP-Myanmar Stops Issuing Tourist Vi



Subject: AP-Myanmar Stops Issuing Tourist Visas

Monday September 6 7:18 AM ET

Myanmar Stops Issuing Tourist Visas

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar's embassy in Thailand has stopped issuing
tourist visas to independent foreign travelers ahead of Sept. 9, the date
urged by opponents of the military regime for a popular uprising.

Nyan Lynn, minister at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, told The Associated
Press that the ban, which applies to applicants of all nationalities, came
into effect last week.

It was a ``temporary measure'' that would be in force ``until further
notice,'' he said.

He said it applied only to independent travelers, adding, ``It only applies
to free independent travelers. We are still issuing visas for group tours,
business visas and diplomatic visas.''

The ban is apparently motivated by fears that foreign activists or
journalists posing as tourists would try to sneak into the country in
anticipation of any street demonstrations on ``9-9-99'' day.

This date is viewed as auspicious by exiled dissidents from this
numerology-obsessed country. Mass protests that began on ``8-8-88'' day in
August 1988 nearly brought down the military regime in Myanmar, also known
as Burma.

Last week, a British activist, James Mawdsley, 26, was sentenced to 17 years
in prison, after his arrest in a border town inside northeastern Myanmar for
passing out anti-government leaflets.

No reason was given for the visa ban, enforced by a directive issued from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Yangon, effective from Sept. 2. It was
not immediately clear if it applied to Myanmar embassies in other countries.