AP-Myanmar Expels Foreign Instigato

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Subject: AP-Myanmar Expels Foreign Instigators

Saturday March 20 9:18 AM ET

Myanmar Expels Foreign Instigators

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar's military government announced Saturday it
was expelling two Westerners for allegedly trying to instigate student
protests in the country's second-largest city.

The men were identified as Ofer Don Estiline, carrying a U.S. passport, and
Michel Uyitebroeck, a Belgian citizen.

The identifications could not be confirmed. Previous reports of expelled
foreigners have often contained misspellings and the passport number given
for Estiline did not conform to the normal format.

A news release issued by the government spokesman's office said Estiline
arrived in Myanmar, also called Burma, on Feb. 28 and Uyitebroeck on Feb.
21. It said they visited the university campus in Mandalay, Myanmar's
second-largest city, on March 15.

The statement accused the two of trying to incite students to stage
``demonstrations and strikes against the teaching faculties and the
government.''

``Due to their improper motives and behavior,'' it said, Estiline was
deported from the Myanmar capital Yangon to Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.
Uyitebroeck was to have been deported Saturday.

While the allegations could not be confirmed, there have been occasional
visits to Myanmar by political activists opposed to its authoritarian
military regime.

Most are quickly and quietly deported but in a well-publicized case in
August, 18 Asian and Western activists were detained for six days. They were
tried, convicted of sedition and sentenced to five years in prison, but then
expelled.