-Reuters : Candles for Myanmars blo

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

ANALYSIS-Candles for Myanmars bloody anniversary 
04:37 a.m. Aug 06, 1998 Eastern 

By Sutin Wannabovorn 

BANGKOK, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Thousands of Myanmar exiles across the world
will light candles on Saturday to mark the 10th anniversary of a bloody
crackdown by the Yangon government on pro-democracy protesters. 

>From Washington to Sydney, Myanmar exiles promise to remember August 8,
1988, when soldiers fired into a crowd of pro-democracy demonstrators on
the steps of Yangon city hall. 

``Four eights day'' -- the eighth day of the eighth month of 1988 -- marked
the start of a brutal military round-up of hostile factions from
universities, Buddhist temples and political parties across Myanmar, then
known as Burma. 

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government says 35 police,
15 demonstrators and ``a few dozen rioters'' were killed in the
disturbances that followed the crackdown. 

Myanmar exiles put the death toll at more than 1,000. 

In most years the anniversary has passed quietly, but this year the date
coincides with a period of increased agitation by the opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD), which is campaigning hard for democracy and
human rights. 

The NLD, led by the charismatic Aung San Suu Kyi, has set August 21 as a
deadline for the government to convene a parliament of members elected at
polls in May 1990. The NLD swept those polls but the result was ignored by
the military. 

Diplomats say the opposition is likely to mark the anniversary this year to
draw attention to their demands. 

Hampered by draconian security measures -- including six years of house
arrest for Suu Kyi between 1989 and 1995 -- the NLDs movements and
activities are severely curtailed. 

But they have found several ways of stepping up pressure. 

Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring
democracy to Myanmar, has used her lack of freedom as a stick to beat the
government, escaping from her military minders in Yangon three times in the
past couple of months. 

In her latest foray on July 24, Suu Kyi and three others managed to get to
a bridge near Anyarsu Village about 64 km (40 miles) from Yangon before the
car was stopped by security men. 

They ordered her to return to Yangon but she refused and began a sit-in,
which the authorities ended forcibly on July 29. 

Whether by accident or design, the protest was a brilliant publicity
triumph for Suu Kyi and attracted worldwide attention and harsh criticism
of the government from leading nations. 

Suu Kyi became ill during the protest but has vowed to venture out again to
meet supporters as soon as she is well. Diplomats say it is possible she
may try to travel on Saturday or possibly hold a party meeting at her
lakeside residence. 

A government spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday it would be ``unwise'' for
Suu Kyi to try to leave Yangon on Saturday. 

The capital has been quiet this week but is rife with rumours of some sort
of action planned for Saturday. 

One Yangon-based diplomat told Reuters on Thursday he had heard stories of
propaganda leaflets being dropped out of bus windows in Yangon but could
give no details of the content. 

``None of us have any idea what will happen, if anything, on Saturday
(August 8)... there could be demonstrations,'' said the diplomat. ``But
everybody is looking towards the day and there are plenty of rumours.'' 

``Saturday is market day in Yangon and that means there will be lots of
people on the streets already,'' the diplomat added. 

The government appears to expect something. 

A Myanmar government newspaper carried speeches by two cabinet ministers on
Thursday telling the public not to be taken in by subversive groups. 

It said ``axe-handle traitors'' were ``trying to hinder and mar the
development of the state by fabricating groundless rumours and creating
mobs.'' 

One western diplomat who met Suu Kyi recently said he did not anticipate
any special activity in the capital on Saturday. 

``She has made no statement or anyway indicated she would try to organise
any kind of demonstration. There is no evidence here in Rangoon (Yangon)
that anything is going to happen,'' he said. 

Whatever happens in Yangon, activists outside the country will organise
rallies, functions, and candle-lit demonstrations to mark the crackdown,
said Aung Nai Oo, head of foreign affairs at the All Burma Students
Democratic Front (ABSDF). 

``The anniversary is very important to anyone involved and they will try to
mark it wherever they are,'' said a diplomat.