BBC-New arrests by Burma military

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Tuesday, September 15, 1998 Published at 15:47 GMT 16:47 UK 

New arrests by Burma military 

Burma's opposition National League for Democracy says the military
authorities have arrested a further 81 of its members in the last week. 

The latest arrests, made between 11 and 14 September, bring the total
number of detentions since May to 783, according to the NLD. 

The pro-democracy party, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,
won the May 1990 polls by a landslide. 

But the military leadership refused to relinquish power, saying the country
was not ready for democracy. 

Rangoon's military government has cracked down hard on the NLD since it
promised in late May to convene a "People's Parliament" of members elected
at the country's last democratic polls. 

Foreign diplomats say the military government has effectively thwarted the
opposition's plans to convene a parliament by detaining most of its
members. 


Ms Suu Kyi's party says the 783 detainees include 196 elected
representatives. 

The NLD has demanded the release of the detainees. 

"The authorities are unlawfully detaining NLD members but they do not admit
doing so," a party statement said. 

It said the detentions violate the United Nations Declaration on Human
Rights, to which Burma is a signatory. 

The party's vice-chairman, Tin Oo, repeated the NLD's call for the
convention of parliament. 


Members 'invited' to talks 

The government says the party's charges are "baseless" and its numbers
"exaggerated". 

A statement said some NLD members had been invited to government guest
houses ''to discuss matters relating to the unlawful attempt of that party
to unilaterally convene a parliament.'' 

"The fact is that no NLD member has been arbitrarily detained or charged
with a crime in recent days. Let alone being dragged from bed in the middle
of the night," it added.