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NEWS - Burma demonstrations pass p
Burma demonstrations pass peacefully - BBC
Thai pro-democracy supporters remember the Burma uprising
Demonstrations have taken place at embassies around
the world to mark the 10th anniversary of the
pro-democracy uprising in Burma which were crushed by
the military authorities.
Hundreds of Buddhist worshippers
gathered at the Pagoda on the
outskirts of the capital Rangoon - one
of the rumoured sites for
anti-government rallies.
But, as in the capital itself where only
small groups congregated, the
protests remained quiet.
Several thousand people, many of them students, are
thought to have been killed during the 1988 protests.
Authorities in Burma warned pro-democracy supporters
that they would annihilate any efforts to destabilise the
country.
The BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Simon
Ingram, says the government threat has left the streets
of the capital, Rangoon, jittery but calm.
There has been little extra visible security, either in the
streets or outside the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader
of the opposition National League for Democracy.
She has recently stepped up
her personal campaign of
defiance but stopped short of
calling her supporters onto
the streets.
Small-scale protests have
been reported in the run-up to
the anniversary and
anti-government leaflets have
appeared sporadically on
university campuses.
Several offices belonging to a
pro-government organisation were reportedly attacked
but there has been no major gathering of pro-democracy
supporters.
Thai rally
A rally by around 250 exiled Burmese in the Thai capital,
Bangkok, was staged in front of the Burmese embassy.
Journalists in Bangkok were shown a pre-recorded
address by Aung San Suu Kyi.
She told her supporters: "Do not lose
heart. The day will come. We will
never give up."
Crowds of youths chanted slogans
before a wreath was laid outside the
embassy and orange-clad Buddhist monks prayed for
the victims.
At one point, Thai authorities
demanded the vigil end and
armed police stood nearby
ready to eject the
demonstrators.
But the crowds of young men
and women, wearing red
headbands symbolising the
student revolution, refused to
budge.
As night fell in Bangkok the
still raucous crowd held a
candlelight vigil.
They said they would be staying there until August 21 -
the deadline set by Burma's opposition for the Junta to
convene parliament.
If there is no response they intend to begin a hunger
strike.
Protests near Burma border
In the Indian frontier town of Moreh, Burmese exiles were
joined by hundreds of Indian sympathisers from all
political parties to observe the anniversary of the
uprising.
But Indian policemen tried to stop them from holding the
rally too close to the border with Burma's Tamu
township.
Indian officials said they had banned the rally and the
use of loud speakers within a kilometre of the border
after receiving requests from Burmese authorities to
prevent any act of provocation by the exiles.
But correspondents said that the marchers broke
through the Indian police cordon without much difficulty.
Campaigners from the Burma Action Group held a rally
in central London and re-enacted scenes from the
protests in 1988.