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AFP-Myanmar police deployed as junt



Myanmar police deployed as junta blasts "subversive" opposition
Wed 26 Aug 98 - 10:03 GMT 

YANGON, Aug 26 (AFP) - Armed riot police moved in on Myanmar's famous
Shwedagon Pagoda on Wedensday as reports carried an attack from the ruling
junta accusing opposition forces of undermining national development.

"The subversive group is engaged in destructive acts while the government
is undertaking constructive programmes," General Khin Nyunt, first
secretary of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), was
quoted as saying by the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

The report came as scores of armed riot police reinforcements were moved
into strategic sites around the capital, including one of its most famous
Buddhist landmarks the Shwedagon Pagoda, diplomats and residents said.

Extra police were positioned at the University of Yangon, the Shwedagon
Pagoda and the Yangon Institute of Technology, all hotspots of student
unrest in previous uprisings against the junta.

The tightened security comes two days after police dispersed student
demonstrators in the first street protests in the capital since 1996.

Dozens of people were arrested but no injuries were reported after police
moved on two crowds in seperate incidents.

They were the first student demonstrations since a much bigger protest
prompted the military authorities to close universities in December 1996.

Other than the police deployments, diplomats said the capital was quiet
Wednesday.

During a tour of preparations for an upcoming sporting event, Khin Nyunt
said the SPDC was the country's most "constructive" force working for
national development.