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NEWS - Americans held in Myanmar sa



Americans held in Myanmar said to be in good health

              August 12, 1998
              Web posted at: 3:03 a.m. EDT (0703 GMT) 

              WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S.
              State Department called Tuesday for
              the prompt release of six Americans
              detained in Myanmar and said the six
              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 (Myanmar) government to
              release the detainees promptly," he said. 

              The Americans were among 18 foreigners detained 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 a 1988 uprising in which opposition
              supporters said thousands of people were killed. The
military put
              the death toll at a few dozen. 

              The U.S. embassy in the capital Yangon made gaining
release of
              the detainees a priority and said a U.S. consular officer
intended to
              visit the detainees regularly, Foley said. 

              He said the State Department did 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 did not release the names of the
detained
              Americans, but the prisoners were identified in press
reports. 

              The Washington Post said 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. 

              Hamilton was able to fax a letter to her parents via the
U.S.
              embassy, in which she said was fine. 

              "They are treating us well, but I miss you," Hamilton
wrote in the
              letter, according to WRC-TV. 

              Her mother, Alison Hamilton, told the local NBC affiliate,
she had
              not known whether her daughter was dead or alive until she
              received the letter. 

              "This morning after getting her fax, we heard from the
lady over in
              the embassy in Rangoon who had actually been the person
who
              went to see these kids, so she reassured us that the kids
were
              being treated very well," Hamilton said.