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BurmaNet News: September 25, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: September 25, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 23:18:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
_________September 25, 2000 Issue # 1626__________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*AP: Myanmar ethnic group claims clash with government troops over drugs
*Reuters: Myanmar govt tells Suu Kyi to stop causing trouble
*The Independent (London): Spooked by Lies and a Loo That Would Not
Flush; City Life Rangoon
*SHAN: Junta Army Attacks Shans
*AFP: Myanmar media launch venomous attack on opposition with snake tale
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AP: Myanmar junta lashes out at Suu Kyi, West; seeks cooperation
*AFP: Australia criticises Myanmar regime over crackdown on opposition
*AP: Thai Army Kills 4 Armed Intruders From Burma
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*The Daily Star: Myanmar's rice export falls by 16pc
OPINION/EDITORIALS _______
*Amnesty International: Burma--Fear of torture/prisoners of conscience
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AP: Myanmar ethnic group claims clash with government troops over drugs
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Guerrillas from Myanmar's Shan ethnic minority
group clashed with a rival group and Myanmar government troops in
drug-related fighting, the Shan group announced Monday.
The Shan State Army claimed that a five-hour gun battle broke out
Saturday as a result of Shan raids earlier in the week against drug
dealers they claim are backed by Myanmar's military government
The Shan group said one of its brigades fought the battle north of
Muang Na near Thailand's Chiang Mai province, 530 kilometers (360 miles)
north of Bangkok, against more than 100 government troops and 30
guerrillas belonging to the United Wa State Army.
It said five Wa guerrillas and ``many more'' government troops were
wounded in the battle, while two Shans were wounded.
Thai authorities and Western drug experts say the Wa group is behind
the massive manufacture and trafficking of methamphetamine in Thailand.
Thai military officials have accused local Myanmar military commanders
of turning a blind eye to the trade, or even abetting it.
Myanmar authorities have strongly and consistently denied such
allegations, claiming they are pursuing strong anti-drug policies.
The Shan statement said its guerrillas in two raids on Sep. 20 and 21
had seized 100,000 amphetamine tablets.
It claimed the local Myanmar army commander and his ``partners were
furious and ... seeking revenge for their losses.''
It also charged the Myanmar's ruling military council keeps ``the drug
trade as its instrument and does not wish to eradicate narcotics at
all.''
The area is at the center of Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, a major
drug-producing region that encompasses the area where the borders of
Myanmar, Thailand and Laos converge.
The Shan State Army is one of about a score of major ethnic rebel
groups that have been seeking autonomy for several decades from the
central government of Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The group's former leader Khun Sa, surrendered to the government more
than four years ago and lives in the Myanmar capital Yangon. He is still
wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States.
Reuters: Myanmar govt tells Suu Kyi to stop causing trouble
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military launched a new
broadside against pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on
Monday, saying her efforts to move freely within the country were
unreasonable and destabilising.
In a statement, the government also said foreign countries had no right
to criticise it and should mind their own business, and complained that
the regime's efforts to move Myanmar in the right direction were
constantly met with ridicule.
``Unfortunately, Ms Suu Kyi's so-called non-violent approach to
democracy is rather designed in putting the entire party on direct
confrontation with the government,'' it said.
``It is also very unfortunate that the government of Myanmar in its
every positive step in the right direction has been challenged,
ridiculed and impeded.''
Suu Kyi has been confined to her house and cut off from contact with
the outside world since the early hours of Friday, when police forcibly
removed her from Yangon's main railway station, ending her attempt to
travel outside the city by rail.
U Tin Oo, vice chairman of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD), and seven colleagues who accompanied Suu Kyi in her bid to take a
train to the city of Mandalay were detained by the government and have
not been heard from since.
The authorities say the 55-year-old Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace
Prize, ``lashed out'' at station cleaning staff after being told no
tickets were available.
The NLD won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed
to govern.
``PLAYING A VICTIM ROLE''
Suu Kyi was released from six years of house arrest in 1995. While
there are no official restrictions on her travel, the authorities always
stop her when she tries to leave Yangon.
The government said her two recent efforts to leave the capital, first
by car and then by rail, were ``symbolic gestures designed merely to
attract attention and sympathy by playing a victim role...creating
opportunities for outsiders to criticise and pressure the government at
various international forums.''
Myanmar's treatment of Suu Kyi attracted fierce international criticism
at the U.N. Millennium Summit earlier this month, and has thrown into
doubt a planned meeting in Laos in December between foreign ministers
from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the
European Union.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer weighed in with more
criticism on Monday.
``The Burmese government's actions in respect to Aung San Suu Kyi and
her supporters are unacceptable. I have repeatedly urged the Burmese
government to respect the right of freedom of movement and association
for all Burmese people, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,'' Downer said in
a statement.
``The Burmese government has once again flagrantly ignored this
fundamental right.''
The Myanmar regime said criticism of its actions amounted to ``blatant
interference'' in its internal affairs.
``Government leaders even went to the extent of deliberately taking
time and pains to put in a line in their U.N. speeches to criticise and
condemn the government of Myanmar when they should be focusing on the
really serious issues and problems their countries and the world are
facing,'' it said.
The government reserved special criticism for Britain and the United
States, which it said were ``interfering in the purely independent
affairs of a sovereign independent nation while using their media to
cover up the truth and falsely portraying that country as a rogue
nation.''
(With additional reporting by Andrew Marshall in Bangkok)
____________________________________________________
The Independent (London): Spooked by Lies and a Loo That Would Not
Flush; City Life Rangoon
September 25, 2000
Dominic Arkwright
"I AM happy", he says - the man who runs the shop in Bogyoke Aung San
market. "I am very happy." He may be. But I suspect he is not talking to
me. He is talking to the small, dark-skinned man in a pink shirt who has
been browsing about two feet from me. And who leaves at the same time,
buying nothing.
He, of course, is not shopping. He is watching. He is from military
intelligence. In Burma you find few people who'll talk openly about the
regime. If they are seen talking to you, they will be approached soon
afterwards. "What did you say to him?" "What did he say to you?" If they
are heard talking to you, the consequences could be worse. The military
has interrogated, tortured, jailed and exiled thousands who have dared
to dissent. People also have to beware of informers - those who tell
tales for a fee. Or, more likely, a favour.
Fear swirls like a monsoon cloud through Burma where, 10 years ago, the
people voted overwhelmingly to kick out the hated military regime. The
people were ignored and the election was declared invalid.
Catch most people alone and they do not want this government. They want
"the lady" - Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate whose National League
for Democracy (NLD) would win a second landslide victory if another
general election were held. "She is number one," said one man. "The
people support her 100 per cent."
It's an exaggeration. But not so great as that propagated unceasingly by
the state-controlled media. Reading The New Light Of Myanmar is like
reading George Orwell - who worked for the imperial police in Burma for
five years in the 1920s. The leader is "Senior General" Than Shwe. His
henchmen are Secretary 1, Secretary 2 and Secretary 3. According to the
newspaper they appear to spend most of their time inspecting things.
"S-2 and minister inspect prawn-breeding work." "Minister for Industry-
2 inspects railroads and bridges."
As an unwanted, verging on illegal, entrant into one of the world's
nastier police states it's easy to be paranoid. But it's even easier to
be watched. "You must be aware," said one Burmese man, "that informers
are everywhere." Taxi drivers perhaps? Or the hotel staff? "Both," he
said. "We do not even trust our friends now."
This man had been very open with me in private. He seemed to know I was
not the teacher that my tourist visa proclaimed. We had met twice and he
was early. So when, the third time, he did not show, I was worried. He
had probably been advised in an unfriendly way to steer clear of me.
Another man had promised to meet me. He had photographs he wanted me to
smuggle out of the country. Yet when I turned up at his shop he
pretended not to know who I was. Was he happy? "Yes, very happy."
By the end of the third day I was relieved that my package tour was
nearly over. I had become so nervous that I threw the tiny microphone I
was using down the hotel loo. But it failed to flush. I left with water
rising in the bowl and threatening to flood. The taxi ride to the
airport was spent in a state of panic. When would the hotel find out?
Would they inform military intelligence? Would they stop me on the way
to the airport? Or pick me up there?
It sounds a bit pathetic and it was. The military junta does not have a
reputation for brutality, torture and long jail sentences for foreign
journalists. But Rangoon can make you scared. I couldn't help smiling
when I saw the sign "Welcome to the Land of Smiles" at Bangkok airport.
There had not been much smiling in Rangoon. Not by me or anybody else.
____________________________________________________
SHAN: Junta Army Attacks Shans
24 September 2000
No: 9-14
Rangoon has unleashed an expected offensive against Yawdserk's Shan
State Army at the border between Shan State's Mongton and Thailand's
Chiangmai yesterday, said sources from the SSA.
A column of units from IB 330 and IB 227 clashed with elements from the
SSA's Brigade 727, commanded by Maj. Tern Khurh at Loihtwe (Doithuay in
Thai), west of BP1. the checkpoint between Mongton Township and
Chiangdao District, about 120 kilometers northwest of Chiangmai at
15:00. The battle lasted about 6 hours, during which the Shans claimed
to have killed at least 4.
The Burmese resumed their attack before dawn today. Details are still
lacking, although 3 Shan fighters were reported to have been wounded and
1 killed.
The battle front is quiet in the afternoon. Shan sources also reported 5
companies of junta forces from Homong converging on Loi Taileng,
Yawdserk's present headquarters opposite Pang Mapho District,
Maehongsong Province.
____________________________________________________
AFP: Myanmar media launch venomous attack on opposition with snake tale
YANGON, Sept 25 - (AFP) - Myanmar's official media Monday launched a
bizarre attack on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy (NLD), comparing it to a poisonous snake which had to be
locked up out of harm's way for its own good and that of the community.
While Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders are kept under house
arrest by the military junta, the Burmese-language Mirror daily in a
venomous commentary drew parallels between a tale about poisonous snakes
and the pro-democracy NLD party.
About 2,500 snakes -- the majority of them adult cobras -- were being
stored in a house in Thingankyun east of the capital by a foreigner,
ostensibly to be exported, the paper said.
Things came to a head when three snakes escaped, to the consternation of
nearby residents who were already unhappy about living next to a house
writhing with poisonous serpents, the daily said.
The authorities intervened and cleared the house of snakes and peace and
tranquility returned to the neighbourhood.
"If the angry community, already up in arms, had taken matters into
their own hands and burnt down the house to get rid of the snakes, they
would have been committing a crime and all the snakes would have been
killed," the commentary said.
"Thanks to the timely intervention of the authorities concerned, the
snakes were moved away and the threat of poisonous snakes removed from
the community," it said.
It went on to compare the NLD leadership to a poisonous snake while
referring to recent confrontations between the NLD and the military
junta which have left Aung San Suu Kyi and party leaders under virtual
house arrest.
"You can imagine how much public hatred the NLD leadership is inviting
upon themselves by their antics at ferry-crossings, railway stations and
on the wayside," it said.
If it had not been for timely intervention by the authorities, they
would have felt the wrath of angry crowds who were "totally fed-up with
their despicable acts blindly carried out at the behest of foreign
powers," the commentary said.
On Friday, Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were escorted from
Yangon central station by police cars after being prevented from
boarding the train to the northern city of Mandalay.
NLD leaders had arrived at Yangon station Thursday afternoon saying they
wanted to take a train to Mandalay to check reports of a crackdown on
NLD offices there.
The junta had September 14 ended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi
and other NLD leaders following a nine-day roadside showdown but barred
her from leaving the capital.
The Nobel laureate and other members of the NLD central executive
committee were placed under virtual house arrest on September 2, after
they tried to attend a party meeting outside Yangon.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
AFP: Junta quotes British PM to defend crackdown on Aung San Suu Kyi
YANGON, Sept 25 (AFP) - Myanmar's ruling junta Monday barred British
diplomats from visiting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi while
Australia and Japan condemned the renewed crackdown on the Nobel
laureate and her National League for Democracy (NLD).
Security forces blocked British diplomats from visiting Aung San Suu
Kyi and deputy chairman Tin Oo, a diplomatic source told AFP.
Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD central executive committee members have
been under house arrest since early Friday when they were escorted from
Yangon central station by police.
They were prevented from boarding a train to the northern city of
Mandalay to investigate reported crackdowns on the party.
Only relatives and domestic staff were allowed to visit NLD leaders
Monday and they were carefully checked by security personnel before and
after visits. NLD members were not allowed access to party leaders.
Tin Oo is being held on a military base 50 kilometres (30 miles) north
of Yangon. He was not at his house Monday, a diplomatic source
confirmed.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer expressed his government's
concern over the latest crackdown.
"The Burmese (Myanmar) government's actions in respect to Aung San Suu
Kyi and her supporters are unacceptable," he said.
"I have repeatedly urged the Burmese government to respect the rights
of freedom of movement and association for all Burmese people including
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
"This includes her right to move about freely and to meet with her
supporters. The Burmese government has once again flagrantly ignored
this fundamental right," he said.
Japan also voiced concern.
"We are going to urge the Myanmar government to lift a measure of
restriction on the freedom of movement of Aung San Suu Kyi," said a
spokesman for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
The junta defended its actions, quoting British Prime Minister Tony
Blair's September 12 speech against oil protest blockades in Britain.
"Unfortunately, Ms Suu Kyi's so-called non-violent approach to
democracy is rather designed in putting the entire (NLD) party on the
direct confrontation with the government," the junta said in an
English-language statement calling on the party to avoid confrontation.
"'Legitimate protest is one thing. Trying to bring the country to a
halt is quite another, and there can be no justification for it'," said
the statement quoting from Blair's speech.
"The government of Myanmar agrees with his statement," it said, adding
it hoped western critics would "care for the welfare of (the) whole 48
million population of Myanmar and not just one single individual's
interests."
The junta variously says Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under house
arrest for her own protection or to prevent social chaos.
Aung San Suu Kyi and foreign critics were "creating unnecessary
obstacles delaying her orderly transition to multi-party democracy," it
said Monday.
Military rulers also slammed foreign diplomats for "blatant
interference in the host country's internal affairs under the pretext of
human rights and democracy."
British and United States diplomats have regularly attempted to visit
Aung San Suu Kyi during her periods of house arrest.
Former colonial power Britain and the US have been at the forefront of
international condemnation of the junta for human rights abuses and its
treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition figures.
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta
has never recognised the result.
AP: Myanmar junta lashes out at Suu Kyi, West; seeks cooperation
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's ruling junta on Monday lashed out at
Aung San Suu Kyi and her Western supporters, saying the opposition
leader's ``stop me if you dare'' campaign is hurting the government's
goal to establish a new kind of democracy.
In a written statement, the government accused western diplomats in
Yangon of encouraging ``one individual .... to destabilize and overthrow
the government of the host country.''
The statement came as the British Embassy said ambassador John Jenkins
was prevented Monday from seeing the 1991 Nobel peace laureate who is
under apparent house arrest again after her latest defiance of the junta
last week.
Jenkins was stopped outside Suu Kyi's house by security forces and told
he would not be allowed to see her as ```a temporary measure,''' an
embassy spokesperson said on customary condition of anonymity.
The crackdown demonstrates the junta's resolve to silence Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy despite the vehement Western criticism it
is facing and the brickbats it could receive in upcoming international
meetings.
The government, which had kept Suu Kyi under formal house arrest from
1989 to 1995, refused to hand over power to the NLD after it
overwhelmingly won the elections in 1990. The military government
dislikes her spreading the pro-democracy message, and has often used
force to prevent her from traveling.
The government statement said that instead of adopting confrontation,
the NLD should support the authorities in its national goal to transform
Myanmar ``to a totally different political system,'' which includes the
establishment of a ``sustainable democracy.''
Suu Kyi's latest standoff with the government began Aug. 24 when she
tried to drive out of Yangon for party work. On being stopped, she
became locked in a nine-day roadside standoff that ended when she was
forcibly brought back to Yangon and kept under virtual house arrest for
two weeks. Eight other top party leaders were also confined to their
homes.
When the restrictions were lifted, Suu Kyi and deputy party leader Tin
Oo tried to travel outside Yangon by train on Thursday. They were
forcibly evicted from the station and the home confinement restrictions
were imposed again on Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and the remaining seven top NLD
leaders.
Besides, Tin Oo, 73, was shifted to a government guest house, a
euphemism for indefinite detention without charges. Some 45 other NLD
members have been living in guest houses since September 1998.
British diplomats who tried to visit Suu Kyi on Friday and Saturday
were turned away but they will continue to try to see her, the British
Embassy spokesperson said.
In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer condemned the
junta and said Australian diplomats in Yangon were trying to meet Suu
Kyi to check her welfare and that of her supporters.
The international support Suu Kyi commands irks the junta greatly.
Monday's government statement said western nations should act and care
for the welfare of 48 million people of Myanmar and not ``just one
single individual's interests.''
``The so-called `war of endurance' and `stop me if you dare' campaigns
orchestrated by NLD ... need to be looked into,'' it said.
It is unfortunate that every government step ``has been challenged,
ridiculed and impeded,'' delaying Myanmar's ``orderly transition to a
multiparty democracy,'' it said.
Meanwhile, issuing a veiled threat, a government newspaper warned the
NLD that it owes its survival to the military authorities who, it
claimed, are protecting the NLD from the wrath of the people.
``NLD people are snakes ... (people) are ready to wipe them out,'' said
an article in the Myanmar-language Kyemon daily Monday.
____________________________________________________
AFP: Australia criticises Myanmar regime over crackdown on opposition
SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) - Australia Monday sharply criticised Myanmar's
military regime for putting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under
virtual house arrest, saying it was a flagrant breach of her rights.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the government was deeply
concerned over the crackdown which came after the National League for
Democracy (NLD) leader's latest confrontation with the junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters attempted to travel to Mandalay,
Myanmar's second city, by train Friday. They were told that all trains
were full and later escorted from the station.
Downer said the Australian embassy in Yangon was seeking to meet Aung
San Suu Kyi at the earliest opportunity to check on her welfare and that
of her supporters.
"The Burmese government's actions in respect to Aung San Suu Kyi and
her supporters are unacceptable," he said, using the country's former
name.
"I have repeatedly urged the Burmese government to respect the rights
of freedom of movement and association for all Burmese people including
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
"This includes her right to move about freely and to meet with her
supporters. The Burmese government has once again flagrantly ignored
this fundamental right."
Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders faced off the military in a
nine-day roadside confrontation earlier this month after the opposition
group attempted to defy a ban on leaving the capital.
____________________________________________________
AP: Thai Army Kills 4 Armed Intruders From Burma
Sunday, September 24 7:49 AM SGT
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP)--Four unidentified, armed intruders from Burma
were killed Saturday in a gun battle with Thai soldiers near the border
between the two nations, Thai army officers said. Fighting broke out
after the soldiers came across about 10 armed intruders on a corn
plantation just over the Thai side in Tak province, 230 miles northwest
of Bangkok.
The men were ordered to stop, but instead opened fire with a grenade
launcher, setting off a 15-minute exchange of fire.
Two Thai soldiers were wounded, and the other intruders fled back to
Burma, leaving their dead behind.
A Thai soldier who asked not to be identified said the dead men were
ethnic Karen, though he did not say to what group they belonged.
There are two main ethnic Karen ethnic guerrilla groups in the area: The
Karen National Union, which fights against Burmese military regime, and
the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which is loosely allied with the
Myanmar government.
The DKBA has a history of violent incursions into Thai territory, often
targeting refugee camps whose inhabitants are loyal to the KNU. Some of
its members also have a reputation for banditry.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
The Daily Star: Myanmar's rice export falls by 16pc
Sep 25, 2000.
YANGON, Sept 24: Myanmar exported a total of 32,200 tons of rice in the
first six months of this year, falling by 16.1 per cent from same period
of 1999 when it registered at 38,400 tons, according to the latest
figures of the country's Central Statistical Organisation, says Xinhua.
In 1999, Myanmar exported 63,700 tons of rice, a drop also from 111,700
tons in 1998, indicating a trend of down-sliding in the export.
To meet its food demand, Myanmar has since January 1999 reclaimed
467,370 hectares of vacant, virgin, fallow and wetlands in the country's
six divisions and states for cultivation by private entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, more reclamation of such lands in two other states and
divisions are also being planned in four years' time beginning April
2001, the start of the next fiscal year.
Myanmar has abundance of cultivable land stretching 18.22 million
hectares, of which only 9.31 million are under cultivation while 8.91
million remained utilized.
The country's agriculture accounts for 37 per cent of the gross domestic
product and 25 per cent of the export value.
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________
Amnesty International: Burma--Fear of torture/prisoners of conscience
[Abridged]
MYANMAR U Soe Myint, 78, - National League for Democracy (NLD) Central
Executive Committee member, detained on 2 September;
Htun Zaw Zaw, Myo Nyunt, Htun Myint, Thein Lwin, Aung Htoo,
Khin Oo, Moe Thaw (alias Pauk Pauk), Myint Kyaw, Shwe Gyo,
Than Htut, Nyan Lin Aung, Aye Myein Lin, Than Htun, Thein Swe,
Zaw Min Kyaw, Min Aung Nyo, NLD Youth members, detained on 2
September;
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (f)- NLD General Secretary;
U Tin U - NLD Vice Chairman, detained on 22 September;
New cases: At least eight unidentified NLD members, detained on 22
September;
U Saw Naing Naing, - NLD Member of Parliament-elect;
NLD Organizational Committee members: U Soe Han, U Tun Myint,
U Aung Myint, U Htein Win, U Sein Htay, U Zaw Oo, U San
Myaing, U Tin Nyunt, detained on 13-14 September.
The Vice Chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and eight
other NLD members, were reportedly taken into custody as they tried to
accompany NLD General Secretary, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to Mandalay.
Political prisoners are often tortured in Myanmar during interrogation
and in prison. Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of all
NLD members detained in the past weeks, many of whose whereabouts are
unknown.
NLD Vice Chairman, U Tin U, and eight unidentified NLD members were
taken by force from Yangon railway station by security forces at 1am on
22 September. They were accompanying Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in an attempt
to travel to Mandalay by train for NLD party business. They are now
reportedly detained at a "government guest house".
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was taken back to Yangon and, according to the
authorities, she is in her residence there, which, with the NLD
headquarters, is reportedly cordoned off by security forces. Foreign
diplomats and journalists have not been allowed to visit her.
Unconfirmed reports state that security forces also detained some of the
dozens of NLD Youth members who had gone to the station in the afternoon
to meet the group, and who were also forcibly removed from the station.
According to the authorities, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin U and their
party were told that there were no available tickets to travel to
Mandalay when they arrived at the station. The group remained at the
station until all the trains had departed. The authorities allege that
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi "lashed out at a station cleaning crew" before
being requested to leave, and have stated that the incident is being
investigated.
In what is believed to be part of the current crack-down on the
opposition, nine NLD Organizational Committee members in Yangon,
including NLD member of parliament-elect U Saw Naing Naing, are also
reported to have been arrested on 13 and 14 September, at around the
same time as restrictions on other senior NLD members were lifted.
_____________________ OTHER ______________________
____________________________________________________
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