Japan urges Burma to free detainees

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Thursday May 22 5:19 AM EDT 

Japan urges Burma to free detainees

TOKYO, May 22 (UPI) _ Japan has urged Burma's military junta to release
detained opposition
party members, fearing the arrests will slow the country's quest for democracy. 

In making the plea Thursday, Japan's chief government spokesman has
confirmed reports that up
to 60 members of the National League for Democracy led by Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Aung
San SuuKyi have been detained without trial. 

Speaking at a media conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama
(``Say-ROH-koo
Kah-JEE-yah-mah'') noted the Burmese rulers appear to have arrested NLD
members ahead of
plans by the opposition group to stage a rally in Rangoon next week. 

The rally was to have commemorated the 1990 Burmese general election, in
which the party
scored an overwhelming victory, but that was nullified by the military
takeover. 

Kajiyama said, ``We ask the Myanmar (Burmese) government for no more arrests
of NLD
members and for the release of detainees. We are worried that this measure
is a reversal of
democratic moves...'' 

The Japanese official has urged the Burmese government and the NLD to
realize democracy
through dialogue.