[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Reuters-U.S. demands release of Mya



U.S. demands release of Myanmar opposition members 
07:09 a.m. Sep 08, 1998 Eastern 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar has demanded the
military government free opposition members detained to prevent them from
convening a parliament, a U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Yangon said Tuesday. 



Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Monday that the
authorities detained 110 of its members on Sunday and Monday, including 50
members who won seats in the country's last general election eight years
ago. 



A spokesman for the government confirmed NLD members had been detained but
gave no figures. He said the action was to prevent the party calling a
parliament, something that ``would not be permitted by any government in
the world.'' 



U.S. charge d'affaires, Kent Wiedemann, made the demand for their release
to senior members of the Myanmar government on Monday, the embassy
spokeswoman said. 



``He protested their having been detained and when told by the authorities
that they did not know how long they would be detained, the United States
asked for their immediate release,'' she said. 



The authorities had responded to Wiedemann by saying that the NLD members
had not been arrested but ``detained to prevent them from attending a
parliament the NLD has announced it will convene this month,'' the
spokeswoman said. 



The NLD has vowed to call a ``People's Parliament'' of candidates elected
in a 1990 election. The NLD won the poll by a landslide but the government
refused to accept the result, arguing that a constitution is needed before
a new parliament can be formed. 



A diplomat in Yangon said some of those NLD members detained since Sunday
had been taken away by military intelligence officers in the middle of the
night. 



``We understand some were rousted out of bed at 3 a.m. in the morning,''
the diplomat said. 



A government statement seen on Tuesday said it had invited NLD members to
government guest houses to ``present the government's view'' and to
``invite them on their suggestion (of) convening a parliament in the
absence of a constitution.'' 



``The government is...encouraged by the actively positive response and
understanding of these NLD members and hopes that an understanding can be
realised to work together towards building a multi-party democracy,'' it
said. 



The government set up a national convention in 1993 to draw up a
constitution to replace the one the military abolished when it seized power
in 1988 by crushing a pro-democracy uprising. 



The convention's work has been suspended since 1996. 



The government statement said a working committee of the convention ``is in
the process of working towards the laying of the furtherance of the
principals of the National Constitution.''