Shooting, arrests reported in new u

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Subject: Shooting, arrests reported in new unrest in Mandalay

Shooting, arrests reported in new unrest in Mandalay
      March 20, 1997
      1.56 a.m. EST (0656 GMT)

      RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Riot police in Mandalay shot at crowds of
Buddhists,
      including monks, who were ransacking mosques in response to the
alleged rape of a
      Buddhist girl by a Muslim, residents said Wednesday. 

      Police fired over the heads of rioters Tuesday to halt the rampaging,
said the
      residents of the city reached by telephone. At least two monks were
hospitalized
      with wounds from ricocheting bullets, said the residents, who refused
to give their
      names. 

      It was unclear whether there had been other injuries or deaths.
Officials from the
      military government have declined comment since the unrest erupted
over the
      weekend. 

      Residents said Mandalay, 400 miles north of Rangoon, was quiet Wednesday.
      Official cars with loudspeakers warned residents to respect a curfew
and not to
      assemble in groups of five or more. 

      Mandalay's 20,000 monks are notoriously militant. They took to the
streets in
      anti-government protests in 1988 and 1990, but have been quiet in
recent years
      since Burma's military regime banned many of their organizations and
defrocked
      prominent activists. 

      Nearly 90 percent of Burma's 50 million people are Buddhists and about
4 percent
      are Muslims. Religious tensions normally do not run high, but the
government
      treats potential friction seriously. 

      Residents attributed the unrest to reports of a sexual attack by a
Muslim man against
      a Buddhist girl over the weekend. The girl notified police, and the
suspect
      reportedly tried to settle the affair with a payoff. 

      Apparently angered by the amount of the settlement, a Buddhist monk
related to the
      girl led other monks in ransacking a mosque and the man's home Sunday,
residents
      said. The curfew was subsequently imposed and police erected roadblocks. 

      Renewed attacks against mosques broke out Tuesday. Residents reported that
      Muslim homes and cars were damaged before riot police moved in. It was
unclear
      how many people took part in the violence, though they apparently acted in
      scattered groups. 

      Other Mandalay residents said the rioting monks also were angry over
the way
      repairs were carried out on the Buddha image at the Maha Muni pagoda,
one of
      Burma's most sacred shrines. 

      At the same time, the All Burma Young Monks Union, a dissident monks
group, said
      in a statement seen in Bangkok, Thailand, that the unrest stemmed from the
      government's maltreatment of monks in Burmese jails. 

      The group claimed an unknown number of monks were arrested after a protest
      Monday and 15 were summarily sentenced to long prison terms. That
claim could
      be confirmed. 

      The military has ruled Burma since 1962. The current rulers, formally
known as the
      State Law and Order Restoration Council, came to power in 1988 and killed
      thousands of protesters demanding a return to civilian rule.