NEWS - -Myanmar Students Protest on

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-Myanmar Students Protest on Yangon Campus

            Reuters
            02-SEP-98

            YANGON, Sept 2 (Reuters)- About 700 Myanmar students staged
a
            sit-in protest at the campus of Yangon's Institute of
Technology on
            Wednesday, shouting slogans demanding postponement of
            examinations, witnesses said. 

            Roads leading to the campus were blocked, a diplomat
contacted
            from Bangkok said. The campus is about 12 km (seven miles)
north of
            the city centre. 

            Yangon residents said the students had begun demonstrating
at
            around 9:30 a.m. (0300 GMT). They said the protest appeared
to be
            non-political but details were difficult to confirm as all
roads to the area
            were closed. 

            On August 24, students at the two institutes staged their
first open
            street protests against the military government since 1996. 

            Students chanted slogans calling for the downfall of the
military
            government and gave out leaflets supporting the opposition
National
            League for Democracy (NLD) and its vow to convene a
parliament.
            Those protests were broken up by police. 

            They came a few days after the government staged university
finals
            examinations, despite the closure of Myanmar's universities
since
            December 1996. The closure has brought higher education to a
halt. 

            Students preparing for the August 18 exams were forced to
study at
            home in most cases. 

            Universities have frequently been the site of
anti-government protests
            in Myanmar. In 1988 many student protesters were killed near
the
            Yangon University campus. 

            On Monday, the ruling State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC)
            warned the opposition through the state press that the armed
forces
            would not stand idle if it tried to stir up unrest. 

            The military took direct power in 1988 by crushing a
pro-democracy
            uprising. It then ignored the results of a 1990 general
election easily
            won by the NLD. 

            Foreign diplomats in Myanmar were scheduled to meet
opposition
            leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on Wednesday to discuss
her
            party's standoff with the military government, diplomats
said. 

            A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy called it ``a routine
meeting with
            the National League for Democracy, which is a legal
political party.'' 

            The envoys would ``seek elaboration on current political
events and
            the efforts by the government and the NLD to reconcile their
political
            differences,'' the spokesperson said. 

            Their aim would be ``to foster dialogue, national
reconciliation and a
            peaceful transition to democracy,'' the spokesperson added. 

            Suu Kyi told supporters last weekend that she intends to
convene a
            so-called ``People's Parliament'' in September. Government
officials
            have said such a move would be illegal and a parliament
cannot be
            convened before a new national constitution is finalised.
But the NLD
            has accused the government of stalling in drafting the new
charter. 

            State run media have suggested the opposition should be
outlawed
            and Suu Kyi deported if the party proceeds with its plans. 

            The opposition threatened to convene a parliament,
comprising
            representatives of the country's various ethnic groups,
after the military
            ignored its calls to convene a plebiscite on August 21 based
on the
            results of the 1990 election. 

            Since the 1990 election Myanmar's military government has
arrested
            scores of opposition members and curbed the NLD's
activities. 

            Relations between the two sides appeared to be easing as
high level
            representatives met for the first talks for more than a year
on August
            18. 

            But progress has stalled as the administration refuses to
hold talks
            with Suu Kyi, a condition the NLD says is a pre-requisite
for genuine
            dialogue.