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FEATURE - Burma military government



Subject: FEATURE - Burma military government grips nation tightly

Subject: FEATURE - Burma military government grips nation tightly
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    By Deborah Charles
    MANDALAY, Burma, March 11 (Reuter) - The soldiers chant
loudly as they conduct pre-dawn marches and drills
around Mandalay Fort in the centre of the city.
    They are a visible reminder that despite the commercial
bustle of Burma's second city, the military is still in complete
control -- in Mandalay, in the capital Rangoon and throughout
Burma.
    "The situation here is very bad," said a well-known Burmese
writer who asked not to be identified. "This is worse than a
fascist regime."
    "They shut our mouths, they shut our eyes and make people
hear everything they want them to hear," the writer said. "They
are watching everything we do. They know you have come to see me
and may ask me why, and what I said to you."
    
    GOVERNMENT TIGHTENS GRIP WHILE APPEARING TO OPEN UP
    Many complain that the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) is tightening control over citizens
and, at the same time, making it appear as if it is opening up
to the rest of the world.
    This is "Visit Myanmar Year", with the government seeking to
open its once-isolated nation up to foreign visitors and their
hard currency.
    Yet since the tourism year began in November, the government
has continued to move against the opposition movement led by
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League
for Democracy (NLD) party.
    "There is severe repression of the NLD and the forces
working for democracy," Suu Kyi told a news conference last
week. "The situation is getting worse all the time. This is
persecution of the NLD," she said, after outlining arrests and
intimidation tactics used by the SLORC against NLD members.
    The SLORC regularly accuses Suu Kyi and members of her NLD
party of trying to incite unrest and destabilise the country,
and says the actions it has taken are meant to maintain control.
    The SLORC also closed all the major universities across the
country in December after suppressing a series of rare student
street demonstrations. It is not known when they will reopen.
    
    TERRORIST ATTACKS WORRY GOVERNMENT
    The military presence in Rangoon has been stepped up
recently as the government fears possible terrorist attacks by
ethnic guerrilla groups it accused of setting off two bombs at a
Buddhist shrine on Christmas Day.
    In the capital, cars navigate around barricades set up in
the middle of the streets.
    Drivers cast sideways glances at tanks parked in the streets
and at soldiers armed with machine-guns who stand guard every
few metres on the capital's main roads.
    "They (the ethnic rebels) can plant bombs at any time," a
senior military official said when asked about the heightened
security. "We have to be aware of the threat to our security."
    Diplomats said the government is worried about threats posed
by rebel groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) -- the
only major ethnic group yet to sign a ceasefire agreement with
the SLORC and still fighting for autonomy.
    An adviser to KNU hardline leader Bo Mya told Reuters last
week that the guerrillas planned to step up attacks in key
cities such as Rangoon and Mandalay after the SLORC vowed to
keep troops at the Thai-Burmese border after recent fighting.
    "For the SLORC now, the most important thing is to keep
security because they need foreign investment. I think the SLORC
will try to keep security by using any means they have to," one
Asian diplomat said.
    Burma is not only opening up to tourism, it is also trying
to encourage foreign investment.
    Despite pleas from Suu Kyi to foreigners not to bring money
to Burma until the regime improves its human rights record and
begins talks with the opposition, foreign investment is rising.
    Some $6.03 billion worth of foreign projects have been
approved by the government since it opened up the economy after
seizing power in 1988.
    But economists estimate only about half of that has actually
been invested as some investors, uneasy over threats of U.S.
economic sanctions and other international pressure on the
SLORC, await more political and economic stability before
starting operations.
    
    FUTURE STILL UNCERTAIN
    Right now the situation is still uncertain, analysts say,
with several different elements bubbling at the same time.
    "It's like many different piles of gunpowder spread out,"
the writer said. "If one explodes it could ignite the rest."
    Others agree, noting there are some signs of unrest, that
students, peasants and even Buddhist monks -- a key element to
the national pro-democracy uprisings in 1988 -- may decide to
get involved in protests against the military.
    "It could just take one thing," a diplomat said. "If the
SLORC can keep all the different elements happy there is no
problem, but if it explodes you don't know what could happen."
    "We're definitely not going to see dialogue (between Suu Kyi
and the SLORC) any time soon," an Asian diplomat said. "I don't
think anything else is going to happen right away but we are all
waiting to see."
 REUTER