NEWS-Myanmar Junta, Opposition Prop

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Myanmar Junta, Opposition Propaganda War Heats up

          Reuters
          10-JUL-98

          BANGKOK, July 10 (Reuters) - A propaganda war between
Myanmar's ruling
          military junta and opposition forces is heating up. 

          On Friday, the ruling State Peace and Development Council
denied a claim
          by an exiled Myanmar students group that over 50 elected
representatives of
          opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD)
          had been detained. 

          The Bangkok-based All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF)
had
          even named 11 of the MPs it claimed were being detained,
including the NLD
          MP for Pegu Division, Daw Hla Hla Moe. 

          But the military said the ABSDF statement was false. ``The
terrorist
          organisation (ABSDF) was quoted... stating that 11 new NLD
members have
          recently been detained, bringing a total of more than 50,'' it
said in a
          statement obtained by Reuters. 

          ``It is quite interesting to read this statement and being a
matter of
          coincidence or irony, Daw Hla Hla Moe arrived in Yangon this
morning from
          Min Hla Township to meet the NLD leadership at Mrs Aris (Suu
Kyi's)
          residence,'' it added. 

          It was not immediately possible to reach the NLD for comment. 

          On Tuesday, the SPDC barred Suu Kyi from travelling by car to
northern Min
          Hla to meet some of her party's elected MPs including Hla Hla
Moe. But the
          SPDC brought Hla Hla Moe to see her at a northern village
instead. 

          On Thursday, the NLD said it had demanded that the authorities
send Hla
          Hla Moe to the party's Yangon headquarters for consultations
on Friday and
          the junta had agreed. 

          ``NLD leaders in return promised not to proceed to Min Hla
township as they
          have received that promise. It was an achievement resulting
from mutual
          coordination and talks,'' it added. 

          The ABSDF is a political ally of the NLD and is seen as the
overseas
          propaganda arm of Suu Kyi's party. Earlier this month, it
claimed that the
          military was preparing a special cell in which Suu Kyi would
likely be
          detained. 

          Earlier this week, the SPDC said it had increased nationwide
surveillance of
          NLD MPs who were elected in the May 1990 polls, the results of
which were
          ignored by the government. 

          The SPDC said the MPs were being checked to prevent them from
disrupting
          government plans to reopen universities which were closed
after student
          unrest in December 1996. 

          The NLD on Thursday reiterated that it strongly opposed the
restrictions
          placed on its elected representatives by the military
government. 

          The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 polls and has
demanded that
          parliament be convened by August 21 comprising MPs elected in
that poll.
          The SPDC has rejected the demand.