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Americans Detained in Burma In Good



Americans detained in Myanmar said in good health

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department called on Tuesday for
the prompt release of six Americans detained in Myanmar, but said they
appeared to be in good health. 

A U.S. diplomat visited the Americans on Tuesday and found them ``in good
health. They had no complaint about their treatment and appear to have been
treated humanely,'' deputy spokesman James Foley said. 

Foley said the United States does not believe the six have been charged and
has no information on possible charges. 

``And again, we continue to urge the Burmese government to release the
detainees promptly,'' he said. 

The Americans were among 18 foreigners held by Myanmar's military government
last Sunday pending an investigation. 

The detentions took place after foreign activists handed out leaflets at
prominent tourist sites across Yangon calling on Myanmar's citizens to
remember an 1988 uprising in which opposition supporters say thousands of
people were killed. The military puts the death toll at a few dozen. 

The U.S. embassy in the capital Yangon has made the detentions a priority and
a U.S. consular officer intends to visit the detainees regularly as long as
they are in custody, Foley said. 

He said the State Department does not have complete information about the
activities of the Americans or their purpose in travelling to Myanmar,
formerly called Burma. 

``We're really concerned about getting them out.  And we've made that very
clear to the Burmese authorities,'' he said. 

The State Department has not officially released the names of the detained
Americans, but they have been identified in press reports. 

The Washington Post reported that four of them -- Nisha Marie Anand, 21,
Anjannette Hamilton, 20, Michele Keegan, 19, and Sapna Chhatpar, 20 -- were
students at American University in Washington D.C., where Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi's husband spoke earlier this year. The other two were
identified as Tyler Giannini, 28, and Joel Greer, 34. 

20:39 08-11-98