Reuters : Pro-democracy activists p

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Pro-democracy activists pass out leaflets in Yangon 
03:02 a.m. Aug 09, 1998 Eastern 

YANGON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Pro-democracy activists handed out leaflets at
several tourist sites in Yangon on Sunday calling on the Myanmar people to
remember a massacre of opposition supporters 10 years ago, witnesses said. 

Hundreds of red leaflets in Burmese and English were distributed in the
capital from midmorning at up to eight points in Yangon, including the
landmark Shwedagon Pagoda, whose massive golden spire dominates the city. 

``We are your friends from around the world. We have not forgotten you. We
support your hopes for human rights and democracy,'' said the leaflets. 

``8888 -- Don't forget -- Don't give up,'' they added. 

Myanmar opposition supporters use 8888, or ``Four eights day,'' to refer to
August 8, 1988, which was the start of an uprising of pro-democracy
activists calling for democracy and the ending of rule by the military. 

Soldiers opened fire on a demonstration on the steps of Yangon city hall on
that day, killing many civilians. 

Opposition supporters say thousands of people were killed in the unrest
that followed the 1988 uprising. The military government says the death
toll was only a few dozen. 

Witnesses said some of the pro-democracy activists handing out leaflets on
Sunday were dressed in T-shirts saying they were from the Alternative ASEAN
Network of Burma, an umbrella body of various groups supporting Myanmar's
democracy movement from neighbouring Asian countries. 

Myanmar became a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN) last year. 

The military renewed its attacks on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on
Sunday, with commentaries by a government-backed union official in two
government-owned newspapers. 

In an apparent reference to a British television interview with Suu Kyi
last week, the Myanmar-language Myanma Ahlin and Kyemon quoted leader Than
Shwe warning the Nobel Peace Prize winner not to try to destabilise the
country. 

``I would like to warn in advance that the ``Democracy Princess'' is almost
sure to face the 'Four Desires of the People' which have been deeply rooted
among the hearts of the entire Myanmar people no matter how she is trying
to deceive by making appeals to the people,'' it quoted Than Shwe as
saying. 

Than Shwe is a central executive member of the pro-government Union
Solidarity and Development Association. 

The Four Desires of the People is a government slogan calling for
opposition to external forces, traitors, foreign interference and
``internal destructive elements.'' 

The newspaper also accused ``axe-handles'' of trying to disrupt the peace
of Myanmar. The word ``axe-handle'' is commonly used by the military to
mean ``traitor.'' 

Suu Kyi, daughter of Myanmar's national hero and founding father Aung San,
said last week she would not be intimidated by the military. 

``We are determined to do everything we can to make good our promise to the
people that we are going to bring democracy to Burma,'' she said. 

Tension between Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and the
military has risen in recent weeks ahead of a deadline by the NLD for the
government to convene a parliament by August 21 of members elected at polls
in May 1990. 

The NLD won that election by a big margin but the result was ignored by the
military. 

Saturday's anniversary of the 1988 crackdown passed peacefully with
residents reporting Yangon quieter than normal as many people stayed off
the streets for fear of trouble.