AFP-Intimidation charges on eighth

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Intimidation charges on eighth day of Bangkok anti-junta protest
Wed 12 Aug 98 - 07:03 GMT 

BANGKOK, Aug 12 (AFP) - A vigil by exiled Myanmar pro-democracy activists
outside Yangon's embassy here entered its eighth day Wednesday amid
allegations of intimidation and pressure from police to disperse.

Five of the activists were injured in the early hours of the morning when
unidentified attackers on speeding motorcycles threw bottles into the crowd
on two separate occasions, protest organisers said.

"They came on motorbikes and threw bottles at us, then drove away," student
spokesman Zaw Wint of the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) said.

"We are not scared, but some of us are angry," he added, saying he believed
the attack was orchestrated by Myanmar authorities to provoke violence and
get Thai police to forcibly remove them.

There are currently about 50 activists camped outside the embassy compound,
but numbers grew as high as 250 people over the weekend.

"We won't fall into their trap. On the queen's birthday if there is even a
little trouble the police will not tolerate it and will arrest us," he said
referring to the Thai national holiday Wednesday.

Another ABSDF leader, Kaung Myat, alleged Thai police were behind the
attack, claiming some five officers deployed at the week-long rally had
failed to intervene.

"We are getting no help from the police," he said. "Those that were here at
night were just drinking beer inside the compound."

"They are (the ones) instigating problems so they can crack down on the
demonstration."

The first attack included men on motorcycles, while the second involved a
pick-up truck also, he said.

Two of the injured were taken to a nearby hospital, while the other three
were treated at the scene. None were seriously injured.

Burmese Students' Association Safe Area general-secretary Aung Soe said the
protest would continue until August 22, the day after a deadline for the
junta to convene a parliament set by Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Senior metropolitan police officers said Wednesday they had not received an
official report of violence outside the embassy, adding there was no plan
to boost security at the site.

But Thai students who arrived at the scene Tuesday to support their Myanmar
counterparts mounted a security cordon around the protestors after the
attacks and checked visitors identification cards.

The protestors organised the anti-junta vigil to coincide with Saturday's
10th anniversary of a military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators
which left thousands dead, according to unofficial tolls.

Exiled democracy activist groups have called for a mass campaign of civil
disobedience in Myanmar and warned of confrontation if the junta refuses to
convene a parliament by the NLD's August 21 deadline.

The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won 1990 elections by a landslide but the
junta has refused to relinquish power.

The Bangkok protest continued as 18 foreign activists remained in detention
in Yangon for a fourth day after distributing leaflets there promoting
human rights and democracy.