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Lawmaker Heads to Burma



Lawmaker heads to Myanmar to help free Americans

WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. Republican lawmaker left for Thailand on
Wednesday, vowing to ``make every effort'' to get into Myanmar and help secure
the release of six Americans. 

Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, chairman of the House Subcommittee
on International Operations and Human Rights, said his only chance of getting
a visa to enter Myanmar and see the Americans was to go to Bangkok and press
officials at the Myanmar embassy there. 

Diplomats said on Wednesday the fate of the Americans and 12 other foreign
activists detained on Sunday for distributing pro-democracy leaflets in
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, remained unclear. 

They said the detainees were well but they had not been told if they would be
charged or deported. 

The group also includes an Australian, three Thais, three Malaysians, three
Indonesians and two Filipinos. 

Government-run newspapers in Myanmar have accused the activists of being part
of a plot to destabilise the country and said the authorities would take
``necessary actions against them.'' 

A U.S. diplomat in Yangon said the U.S. government wanted its nationals freed
as soon as possible. 

``We are urging their prompt release,'' the diplomat said. 

One of the U.S. citizens, New Jersey resident Michele Keegan, is a constituent
of Smith's. 

``The purpose of my trip is to verify the safety and help secure the release
of all 18 detainees,'' Smith said in a statement issued by his office. 

``A denial of my visa will only raise the specter that the Burmese military
government does not want a speedy resolution to this crisis,'' he added. 

Dozens of students from Washington's American University, where four of the
six Americans being held study, held a silent candlelight vigil outside the
home of the Myanmar ambassador to the United States late on Wednesday,
lighting one candle for each of the 18 activists held. 

The students vowed to maintain a presence there until their fellow students
are released. 

23:26 08-12-98