AP: Army Reopens Rangoon Section

[Winston_Lee@xxxxxxx]

                         Army Reopens Rangoon
                         Section

                         Monday, March 24, 1997 6:11 am EST

                         BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Burma's military
reopened a
                         Muslim section of downtown Rangoon today after
friction eased
                         between Muslims and Buddhist monks.

                         Religious tensions erupted last week when Buddhist
 monks in
                         Mandalay, 450 miles north of Rangoon, began
vandalizing
                         mosques and burning copies of the Koran -- Islam's
 holiest text --
                         in retaliation for the alleged rape of a young
Buddhist woman by
                         two Muslim men.

                         The unrest in Burma's second-largest city quickly
spread to
                         Rangoon, the capital, and other cities.

                         Today, fewer troops were visible around the
mosques, crumbling
                         British colonial buildings and dingy shop houses
of downtown
                         Rangoon, witnesses said. However, 30 soldiers
still guarded a
                         mosque in the suburb of Yankin that had been
ransacked by 80
                         Buddhist monks on Saturday.

                         A large military presence is already in and around
 the city in
                         preparation for Armed Forces Day, a national
holiday, on
                         Thursday.

                         Mogul Street, a main thoroughfare in the Muslim
section of
                         Rangoon and a black market money changing center,
was
                         reopened to traffic this morning after troops had
cordoned it off
                         Sunday, a witness said.

                         Soldiers politely asked about 50 monks approaching
 a mosque in
                         the Myenigone district of Rangoon to return to
their monastery
                         Sunday, which witnesses said they did peacefully.

                         Monks also attempted to ransack a mosque in the
Ahlone section
                         of Rangoon, not far from the homes of many
high-ranking military
                         officers. The army once again intervened.

                         Rumors had spread around the city that dozens of
monks had
                         been arrested, but no one could confirm those
reports.

                         Government officials have blamed the country's
democratic
                         opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi,
                         along with underground subversive groups and
Western countries
                         for fomenting religious tensions.

                         Opposition groups, however, accuse the regime of
fanning anger
                         against Muslims to draw attention away from
political and
                         economic problems in Burma.

                         The authorities have sharply curtailed political
activities, and
                         despite some economic gains, inflation remains
high at more than
                         30 percent annually.

                         Since the 1930s, Burma has had some tensions
between its
                         Buddhist majority and the Muslim communities,
mainly of South
                         Asian origin.

                         Violence against Muslims has been rare, however,
as 35 years of
                         strict military rule has prevented most outbreaks
of major civil
                         unrest.

                                   © Copyright 1997 The Associated Press

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