Myanmar Says Foreign Activists Brok

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar says foreign activists broke laws

By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government said on Monday that
18 foreign activists detained in the country had broken at least two laws by
distributing pro-democracy leaflets in Yangon. 

A government spokesman said the activists, detained in Yangon on Sunday after
handing out thousands of leaflets urging people to remember a pro-democracy
uprising 10 years ago, were being held for questioning. 

He declined to say if they would be charged or deported. 

``At the moment, I can't say the extent of legal action that will be taken
against them.'' 

He said the activists had broken at least two Myanmar laws, including the
Registration of Printers and Publishers Act. 

Police detained six Americans, an Australian and Thais, Malaysians,
Indonesians and Philipinos after pro-democracy supporters distributed leaflets
at eight points in the capital. 

Activists said they handed out about 10,000 of the red, palm-sized leaflets
throughout Yangon with the message ``8888 -- Don't forget -- Don't give up.'' 

On August 8, 1988, soldiers fired on a pro-democracy demonstration near Yangon
city hall, killing many civilians. Opposition supporters say thousands of
people were killed in the unrest that followed, but the government says the
death toll was only a few dozen. 

Australian and Thai embassy officials in Yangon said they had no word on
whether their nationals would be deported or charged. 

``The gut feeling is that they probably will be deported,'' said one
Australian diplomat. 

But an Asian diplomat said he would be surprised if Myanmar released the
activists without some sort of punishment. 

``I think they will get at least a year's jail,'' he said. 

The government said the activists, who had been ``attempting to incite
unrest,'' were being held at two locations in Yangon. 

The government spokesman said the activists had been organised by the
Alternative ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Network on Burma
(Altsean-Burma), which supports Myanmar's democracy movement. 

Altsean-Burma issued a statement in Bangkok on Monday giving the names of
those detained. It said they included lawyers, academics, business people and
students and had gone to Myanmar to commemorate Saturday's anniversary with a
``goodwill message.'' 

The human rights group Amnesty International also expressed concern. 

``We are shocked to learn of the detentions. We condemn the action and urge
the Myanmar government to release those detained immediately,'' Somsri
Hananantasuk, Amnesty's representative in Thailand, told reporters in Bangkok.

Yangon was quieter than normal quiet on Saturday's anniversary of the 1988
crackdown as many people stayed off the streets for fear of trouble. 

Tension between the government and the opposition National League for
Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi has risen ahead of an NLD deadline for the
government to convene by August 21 a parliament of members elected in May
1990. The NLD won that election but the government has ignored the result. 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's national hero and
founding father Aung San, promised last week she would not be intimidated by
the military  and vowed to bring democracy to Burma. 

05:01 08-10-98