TOWNSHIP NLD OFFICES PRESSURED TO C

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Subject: TOWNSHIP NLD OFFICES PRESSURED TO CLOSE




Media Release
November 16, 1998

                                    
                 TOWNSHIP NLD OFFICES PRESSURED TO CLOSE

Burmese Military Intelligence (MI) has forced executive members
of the Palatwa township branch of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) to resign. The township NLD office was also shut
down and all office equipment and documents were confiscated
after the forced  resignation of the township executives.

The closure of the of fice, in Palatwa township, in Chin State,
western Burma, occurred on November  12th. The Belin township NLD
office in Mon State was similarly closed on  November  11th after
the forced resignations of its members.

In Arakan State, sources said that NLD of fices in Am and Minpya
townships were closed on  14th November, while township NLD
offices in Akyab (Sittwe), Ponnakyun and Myauk Oo were forced to
close in October. All closures followed the forced resignations
of township executives.

MI Unit 10 was responsible for all  closures in Arakan and Chin
States, and MI Unit 5 for the Mon State closure. Resignmg NLD
members were required to sign documents stating that they were
resigning voluntarily for financial, health or other personal
reasons, rather than from coercion.

Sources from Akyab said that local people are deeply concerned
about the future of the NLD, as MI Unit 10 is trying to close all
of the NLD township offices in Arakan and Chin states.

All Burma Students' Democratic Front
For more information please contact 01-654 49984, 01-309 3846