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Reuters : Myanmar says opposition M



Myanmar says opposition MPs confined to townships

17 July 1998
Web posted at: 23:29 JST, Tokyo time (14:29 GMT) 

BANGKOK, July 17 (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military junta denied on
Friday it had detained opposition members of parliament, but said they had
been confined to their respective townships to prevent them causing
political trouble. 

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Thursday that 79
of its MPs had been detained by the ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) for defying government restrictions. 

"As a matter of fact, not a single person has been arrested," said a
government spokesman in a statement obtained by Reuters. 

"They have just been temporarily prevented from leaving their respective
townships so that the process of resuming of classes of the institutions of
higher learning can proceed without being disturbed and politically
exploited by certain quarters," he added. 

The SPDC plans to re-open next month universities closed after widespread
student unrest in December 1996. 

The NLD's senior vice-chairman, Tin Oo, had accused the SPDC of badly
treating the MPs, who had refused to report twice daily to local security
authorities. 

The MPs were elected in May 1990 polls that the NLD, led by Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi, swept but which was not recognised by the military. 

Political tension has been escalating in Myanmar since mid-June when the
NLD sent a letter to the SPDC demanding that parliament comprising the
elected MPs be convened by August 21. 

The NLD's ultimatum prompted the SPDC to impose restrictions on opposition
MPs. 

Separately, the exiled All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) said
Myanmar's military government had set up special riot police units
nationwide to counter demonstrations expected to take place on the 10th
anniversary of the August 8, 1988, pro-democracy uprising which was crushed
by the military. 

"The Burmese military junta has begun to form special riot police units in
large towns and cities throughout the country," Aung Naing Oo, the
Thailand-based ABSDF's foreign affairs secretary, said. 

"These are unwelcome developments because memories of riot police beating
and killing unarmed civilians in the past remains in the minds of the
people," he said. 

Sources in the capital of Myanmar, Yangon, had told the ABSDF that current
military preparations were largely seen as an attempt to counter
confrontations that could arise from the NLD's ultimatum to convene
parliament and planned university exams in the second week of August.