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Burma Detains 6 Americans



GUST 10, 10:02 EDT

Myanmar Detains 6 Americans 

By PATRICK McDOWELL
Associated Press Writer 

<Picture>
Myanmar police
AP/Nic Dunlop [29K]
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BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar's military regime detained 18
foreigners Sunday, including six Americans, for distributing pamphlets
the government said were intended to incite unrest. 

The detentions came a day after the 10th anniversary of a nationwide
uprising against military rule that passed without any reports of
disruptions in Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

In addition to the U.S. citizens, three Thais, three Malaysians, three
Indonesians, two Philippine nationals and an Australian were being held,
a government official said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press
in Bangkok. 

The coalition of private organizations that sent the activists confirmed
the nationalities, but identified only one person: Jaran Dithachai, a
political science professor at Bangkok's Rangsit University. The other
identities were withheld pending notification of families. 

<Picture>
Remembering the uprising in Japan
AP/Naokazu Oinuma [38K]
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Annelyn Deluna, a coalition member, said the 18 people were the entire
group sent to Myanmar, where they were handing out ``goodwill messages''
supporting human rights and democracy and urging people to remember the
1988 uprising. She was hopeful they would be deported Monday. 

The government statement said 18 foreigners ``were apprehended
attempting to incite unrest in Yangon,'' the capital of Myanmar. 

``Foreigners who were distributing the pamphlets in downtown Yangon were
reported to the police by citizens and taken to police stations for
questioning and are being detained while the investigation continues,''
according to the statement. 

Seditious materials were found in their hotel rooms, it said. 

The government identified the organizers as Na Ga Forum Asia Group, but
the activists told The Associated Press that that was the name of their
travel agency. They described themselves as an ad hoc coalition of
pro-democracy groups from six countries. 

The government said the foreigners arrived on tourist visas Friday from
Bangkok and had planned to leave Sunday. 

A U.S. Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
case ``has been raised with senior leaders, who have assured us that the
Americans are being well-treated. We are seeking consular access to
them.'' 

Exile groups and pro-democracy activists had been predicting for weeks
that the people of Myanmar might rise up against the government
Saturday, the 10th anniversary of nationwide protests against military
rule. The government changed leaders but eventually crushed the unrest
with bullets and bayonets. As many as 3,000 people died. 

Sources close to the opposition National League for Democracy told
reporters in Bangkok that leader Aung San Suu Kyi had ordered her
supporters not to provoke the military. 

The anniversary came two weeks ahead of an Aug. 21 deadline set by Suu
Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, for the government to finally
convene the parliament elected in 1990. 

The opposition overwhelmingly won the vote, but the military never
allowed the parliament to meet. The military has ruled the country since
1962. 

Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest or largely confined to her home
for the past decade, recently engaged authorities in a six-day standoff
on a road outside the capital.