The Nation : Burma holds 18 foreign

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The Nation
Burma holds 18 foreigners

EIGHTEEN foreign activists, including three Thais, were arrested in Rangoon
Sunday and are still in detention after handing out leaflets calling the
Burmese to remember a political uprising ten years ago, Foreign Ministry's
spokesman Kobsak Chutikul said. 

The Thais arrested are Charan Distapichai, 52, lecturer at Rangsit
University, Chanakarn Pandermwongse, 22, a Thamasat University student and
Sawat Uppahad, a representative from the Forum of the Poor. 

The Thai Embassy in Rangoon has been instructed to request official
confirmation of the arrests from Burmese authorities and to learn of the
charges. 

The rest arrested include six Americans, three Malaysians, three
Indonesians, two Filipinos and an Australian. 

The eighteen arrived in Rangoon on Friday, holding tourist visas from
Bangkok, and planned to return Sunday afternoon. Some were arrested on the
street while others at the airport, Kobsak said. 

Pro-democracy supporters, handing out the leaflets, said they were from the
Alternative Asean Network (Altsean), a group supporting Burma's democracy
movement in neighbouring Asian countries. 

An Altsean spokeswoman in Bangkok told The Nation

that she was shocked when she heard of the arrests and was ''very concerned
about the well-being of those people as they did nothing wrong''. 

Burmese authorities said that the 18 had been arrested for distributing
pamphlets in Rangoon and would be held until investigations are completed. 

They said various pamphlets and related material aimed at inciting public
unrest had been found in their hotel rooms. ''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. 

Activists said they had distributed around 10,000 leaflets throughout
Rangoon. 

The leaflets called on the Burmese to remember the 10th anniversary of an
uprising of opposition supporters on Aug 8, 1988, called the ''Four eights
day'' by pro-democracy activists, which resulted in a bloody crackdown
across the country. 

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

Thousands of red leaflets in Burmese and English were distributed earlier
Sunday at eight points in the capital, including the landmark Shwedagon
Pagoda, whose massive golden spire dominates the city, witnesses said. 

''Despite these efforts for agitation, conditions in Rangoon, Mandalay and
other parts of the country are peaceful and calm,'' the government
statement said. 

Thai Foreign Ministry Sunday issued a statement, saying the ''Thai
government does not support nor encourage Thai nationals to engage in
political activities in other countries.'' 

''However if Thai nationals are arrested, we shall make necessary
representations to ensure that they are treated properly in accordance and
acceptable in terms of legal and humanitarian standard,'' read the
statement. 

Kobsak said Thai ambassador to Rangoon Pensak Chararak raised the issue
with Burma's deputy foreign minister U Khin Muang Win at a function. The
Burmese minister told the Thai envoy, ''Don't worry about this. We will
handle it.'' 

Kobsak said that the detainees claimed the leaflets were not a political
document but a goodwill message from friendly neighbours and the Asean. 

The political temperature in Rangoon, with Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) and the military junta, has been high in the
recent weeks owing to the deadline set for the government to convene a
parliament, by Aug 21, of those elected in May 1990. The NLD won that
election but the military ignored the result. 

Saturday's anniversary passed off peacefully with residents reporting
Rangoon quieter than usual as people stayed off the streets for fear of
trouble. 



The Nation, Agencies