UPDATED NEWS ON THE HOSTAGE CRISIS (r)

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Subject: UPDATED NEWS ON THE HOSTAGE CRISIS IN BKK

Ongoing Hostage  Crisis at the Burnmese Embassy in BangkoK..


2 Hostages Released in Thailand

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
 .c The Associated Press

  
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Armed Myanmar dissidents holding about 40 diplomats
and foreigners released two ailing hostages from their homeland's besieged
embassy Saturday, while negotiations resumed to end the stand-off. 

Armed with rifles and grenades, the dissidents stormed through the embassy
gate Friday morning, seizing hostages and demanding the release of all
political prisoners in their military-run country. 

The releases came nearly 24 hours after the takeover. A young Thai woman
walked out of the embassy as crack police teams ringed the walled compound
in downtown Bangkok. 

As the sick woman was driven away in one of the 11 ambulances standing by,
the 12 rebels inside released an ailing man dressed in a traditional Myanmar
sarong. 

Negotiations resumed Saturday after being suspended for several hours. 

Earlier, senior police officials had bargained with the anti-government
activists, offering to trade food and water for the release of the hostages. 

Before the two were released, police had said about 40 people were being
held by the intruders, including 13 Myanmar diplomats, Thais and other
Asians and Westerners. The foreigners were probably at the embassy to obtain
visas. 

One of the hostage-takers claimed to The Associated Press in a telephone
interview that Thai police had acceded to their demand that a helicopter be
provided by 8 a.m. local time Saturday to fly them and some hostages to the
Thai-Myanmar frontier, where the Myanmar rebel movement is based. 

But police said earlier they had not negotiated the demand, and the deadline
passed without incident. 

The hostage-taker, who described himself as a 29-year-old student named
Preeda, said early Saturday morning that he and the other students
distrusted the Thai government, and if a helicopter was not provided, they
would ``have to do something,'' which could include killing hostages. 

He did not say there was an explicit threat to kill Myanmar hostages every
half-hour if the aircraft didn't come, as some of his comrades had been
quoted saying. It was not clear if the threat was serious or even
communicated to the authorities. 

In a statement sent to news media, the dissidents - calling themselves the
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors - demanded the release of all political
prisoners in their military-ruled homeland, a dialogue between Myanmar's
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military, and the convening of
an elected parliament. 

The government of Myanmar, or Burma, has refused to negotiate with Nobel
Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi or to convene the parliament legally elected in
1990. 

Armed with rifles and grenades, the dissidents stormed through the embassy
gate about 11 a.m. Friday, witnesses said. 

Oun Hompromee, the embassy gardener and one of three men who escaped the
compound early Friday evening, said he and a Thai policeman working as a
security guard were accosted by four of the intruders, who forced the two
men at gunpoint to take the dissidents to the ambassador's office. The envoy
had left the compound 30 minutes earlier. 

Oun said that he was able to sneak away as the students gathered hostages,
and he hid until he was able to escape. 

Police said they believed no hostages had been hurt, supporting claims made
by the dissidents in communication with local media. 

In their prepared statement, however, the group warned that if the Myanmar
government doesn't heed their demands, ``it is fully responsible for the
consequences of this action.'' 

Gunshots were heard several times in the early hours of the siege. Two
dissidents fired off an eight-shot salute in early afternoon as they took
down the Myanmar flag and raised a red standard emblazoned with a fighting
peacock, the symbol of the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar. 

Police SWAT teams were on the scene within an hour of the takeover, as were
police dogs and their handlers. Sharpshooters took up positions in nearby
tall buildings. 

Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who arrived at the scene after nightfall,
said Thai authorities would not use force.
   A Myanmar government statement, received in Bangkok, said Ambassador Hla
Maung was working with Thai authorities to secure release of the hostages. 

AP-NY-10-01-99 2228EDT