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Army Reopens Rangoon



Army Reopens Rangoon Section 

                   Monday, March 24, 1997 6:11 am EST 

                   BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Burma's military reopened a
Muslim section
                   of downtown Rangoon today after friction eased between
Muslims and
                   Buddhist monks. 

                   Religious tensions erupted last week when Buddhist monks in
                   Mandalay, 450 miles north of Rangoon, began vandalizing
mosques
                   and burning copies of the Koran -- Islam's holiest text
-- in retaliation for
                   the alleged rape of a young Buddhist woman by two Muslim
men. 

                   The unrest in Burma's second-largest city quickly spread
to Rangoon,
                   the capital, and other cities. 

                   Today, fewer troops were visible around the mosques,
crumbling British
                   colonial buildings and dingy shop houses of downtown Rangoon,
                   witnesses said. However, 30 soldiers still guarded a
mosque in the
                   suburb of Yankin that had been ransacked by 80 Buddhist
monks on
                   Saturday. 

                   A large military presence is already in and around the
city in preparation
                   for Armed Forces Day, a national holiday, on Thursday. 

                   Mogul Street, a main thoroughfare in the Muslim section
of Rangoon
                   and a black market money changing center, was reopened to
traffic this
                   morning after troops had cordoned it off Sunday, a
witness said. 

                   Soldiers politely asked about 50 monks approaching a
mosque in the
                   Myenigone district of Rangoon to return to their
monastery Sunday,
                   which witnesses said they did peacefully. 

                   Monks also attempted to ransack a mosque in the Ahlone
section of
                   Rangoon, not far from the homes of many high-ranking
military officers.
                   The army once again intervened. 

                   Rumors had spread around the city that dozens of monks
had been
                   arrested, but no one could confirm those reports. 

                   Government officials have blamed the country's democratic
opposition,
                   led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, along with
                   underground subversive groups and Western countries for
fomenting
                   religious tensions. 

                   Opposition groups, however, accuse the regime of fanning
anger
                   against Muslims to draw attention away from political and
economic
                   problems in Burma. 

                   The authorities have sharply curtailed political
activities, and despite
                   some economic gains, inflation remains high at more than
30 percent
                   annually. 

                   Since the 1930s, Burma has had some tensions between its
Buddhist
                   majority and the Muslim communities, mainly of South
Asian origin. 

                   Violence against Muslims has been rare, however, as 35
years of strict
                   military rule has prevented most outbreaks of major civil
unrest.