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Myanmar Opposition Memebrs Arrested



Myanmar Opposition Members Arrested


 .c The Associated Press 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's military government has arrested 110 members
of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the group said today.

The National League for Democracy said 50 elected members of Parliament were
among those detained in a wave of arrests that began Sunday afternoon. 

The party said the arrests have so far taken place mainly in provinces outside
of the capital, Yangon. 

The crackdown had been anticipated after the NLD announced last month that it
would convene the Parliament elected in 1990. 

The arrests also come on the heels of the first street protests against
military rule in nearly two years. Last week, as many as 3,000 students
demonstrated for parliament to be convened and for more democracy. 

The military government has yet to confirm or comment on the arrests. The
junta's top generals, however, have increased their verbal attacks against Suu
Kyi and her party in recent days. 

The NLD won 82 percent of the seats in that election. The military refused to
honor the result despite promising beforehand that it would hand over power to
the victors. 

Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize and was under house arrest from
1989 to 1995, has been stepping up her campaign to bring democracy to Myanmar.

The Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the
military in various guises since 1962. 

Suu Kyi and the NLD set an Aug. 21 deadline for the military to convene the
1990 parliament. When the deadline passed with no action from the government,
the party said it would convene parliament on its own sometime in September. 

The military has warned that would be illegal and result in the arrests of NLD
members and possibly a withdrawal of the party's legal status. 

The party's past attempts to hold meetings of its members have been met with
mass arrests by the government.