(RESNED)Student front denies Myanma

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

(RESNED)Student front denies Myanmar's terrorism charges

 .c Kyodo News Service    

BANGKOK, March 2 (Kyodo) - The All-Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) on
Monday denied allegations by Myanmar's military rulers that they had plotted
to assassinate government leaders. 

''The allegations are merely aimed at discrediting the opposition movement and
have become an all too familiar aspect of the regime's propaganda,'' the
Thailand-based organization said in a press release obtained in Bangkok. 

Myanmar's junta has arrested 40 people on suspicion of involvement in a
conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in major cities to foment social unrest.
The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has accused ABSDF
members of involvement in violent acts. 

The organization, which was formed after the bloody suppression of pro-
democracy demonstrations in 1988, said it has committed itself to nonviolent
political defiance both inside and outside Myanmar. 

''The fact is the ABSDF has never been involved in terrorist activities.
Furthermore, the organization gave up its policy of armed struggle in August
1997,'' the organization said. 

The SPDC, formerly called the State Law and Order Restoration Council, has
held power for 10 years and refused to recognize the results of May 1990
elections which the National League for Democracy won by a landslide.