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Police Deployed Around Rangoon



Police Deployed Around Rangoon As Tensions Rise

YANGON, July 31 (AFP) - Hundreds of police including anti-riot officers
carrying assault rifles and heavy machine-guns fanned out through the
Myanmar capital Friday as tensions rose between the country's junta and its
opponents.

Police were deployed at strategic locations throughout Yangon, including
around the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the
home of its chief, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, witnesses said.

Supporters were allowed to visit the NLD headquarters but most were turned
away from the Nobel laureate's home, witnesses added, saying party chiefs
gained admission without incident.

Senior foreign diplomats were refused access to the home of Aung San Suu
Kyi, who was forced back to Yangon by officials Wednesday after a six-day
roadside stand-off outside the capital.

Police were also deployed at key intersections and bridges but there was no
noticeable increase in troop movements. Myanmar's police fall under the
command of the military.

The move came ahead of the 10th anniversary on August 8 of a massacre of
pro-democracy protestors.

Officials said they were on heightened alert because students planned a
demonstration to mark the anniversary of a 1988 crackdown which saw
thousands of protestors killed, according to the opposition.

The NLD, which won 1990 polls by a landslide but has been blocked from
taking power, has jacked up tensions by warning the junta faces unspecified
consequences unless the elected parliament is convened by August 21.

Western powers meanwhile slammed the military leadership for their "callous"
treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi.

International concern at deteriorating conditions here has mounted since the
NLD chief was blocked from travelling to meet supporters in a provincial
town last Friday.

She remained in her car on a rural highway until being forced back to Yangon
late Wedesday. It was the third time in three weeks she had attempted to
leave Yangon for talks with supporters.

The United States condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the forcible
end to her six-day protest by Myanmar's generals.

State department spokesman James Rubin critized the junta's "callous
disregard for her safety, the rule of law, and fundamental freedoms of
movement and association," which he termed "unacceptable violations of her
human rights."

Britain and the European Union also condemned the action.

Aung San Suu Kyi has pledged to again defy the junta and seek to visit
supporters outside the capital.

"I shall continue to go out of Yangon again and again as soon as I recover
until these conditions are met," she was quoted as saying by a spokesman,
who added she was dehydrated and had a fever after the stand-off.

Aung San Suu Kyi urged supporters to remain strong, the spokesman told a
press conference Thursday, which was packed with foreign ambassadors and
other diplomats.

"I am as strong as ever," she added.

The junta said it had no choice but to end the confrontation, adding Aung
San Suu Kyi had achieved her objective by prompting international criticism
of the government.

The military said it had "no choice" but to force Aung San Suu Kyi back to
Yangon from where she was blocked on a country bridge some 26 kilometres (15
miles) from the city. 

"The action was taken in the interests of both parties," an intelligence
official said. "She stubbornly refused gentle persuasion."

The junta defended itself, accusing Aung San Suu Kyi of taking an
"uncompromising stance" and "acting like a dictator."

It added she had achieved her objective by prompting "international
criticism" at a meeting of foreign ministers from southeast Asia and their
international allies in Manila this week.




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©AFP 1998