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Student protests end, but more unre



Student protests end, but more unrest expected in Mynamar

       Thu 03 Sep 98 - 04:44 GMT

       YANGON, Sept 3 (AFP) - Thousands of students who staged the biggest
protests against the Myanmar junta in in
       nearly two years, dispersed peacefully early Thursday amid warnings
of further unrest.

       Foreign diplomats said Wednesday's demonstrations at two Yangon
university campuses ended without incident but
       that scores of riot police remained on stand-by.

       "It's obviously building up again," said one western envoy. "There is
tension there and it will only take a small
       spark to set it all off again."

       Up to 4,000 students joined the protests, which came amid escalating
political tensions after the opposition National
       League for Democracy said it would convene a parliament which was
elected in 1990 but has never been allowed
       to sit.

       "End the military government," chanted up to 800 students at the
Yangon Institute of Technology (YIT), as riot police
       cordoned off a one-mile perimeter around the campus, witnesses said.

       Another 3,000 students rallied at the Hlaing campus in the city,
where many of the institution's students live,
       diplomats and witnesses added.

       Riot police were sent to Hlaing and more were deployed around the
main YIT campus, they said.

       Riot troops were also seen entering the YIT but there were no reports
of clashes.

       After being conselled by academics, all but a few of the students
agreed to board buses to take them to their homes
       at Hlaing and elsewhere.

       The Hlaing protest died down in the early hours of Thursday and all
was later reported quiet, witnesses said.

       "There's nothing happening at the moment," said another western
diplomat. "But it's got to flare up again. It's just a
       matter of when and to what degree."

       The Hlaing campus, which was also sealed off by security forces,
hosts a college for students preparing to enter
       YIT.

       The protest was initially triggered by student anger at arrangements
for examinations over the last two weeks, the
       first since universities were closed following unrest in December
1996, diplomats said.

       But the demonstrations were the biggest since the 1996 unrest and
came after riot police broke up a smaller protest
       outside Yangon University on August 25, arresting dozens of people,
according to witnesses.

       Another protest was staged later that day at YIT, during which rocks
were thrown and riot police mobilised.

       "The government is handling these things pretty well," said one
diplomat.

       "They are trying to avoid violence and confrontation because they
know that is only a short-term solution.
       Obviously, there must be change in Myanmar. But at keast the process
is peaceful at the moment."

       Political tensions are rising following an opposition decision to
convene the parliament elected in 1990 after the
       junta ignored earlier requests to do so.

       The opposition, led by the NLD of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, won the 1990 polls by a landslide but
       the junta has refused to relinquish power.

       The junta has stepped up its verbal offensive against the opposition,
saying its vow to convene parliament was an
       unacceptable threat to national security and promising stern action
if the plan went ahead.

       The military also repeated allegations that foreign governments were
supporting the NLD and using sanctions to
       hinder progress toward democracy.


)AFP 1998