NEWS - Myanmar Dissidents Say Milit

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Subject: NEWS - Myanmar Dissidents Say Military Arrests Four

Myanmar Dissidents Say Military Arrests Four

BANGKOK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Myanmar dissidents said on Thursday the
military government had arrested four more political activists in a
central town as part of a crackdown to prevent unrest on anniversaries
of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising. 

The National Council of the Union of Burma, an umbrella group of
dissidents based on the Thai-Myanmar border, said the four -- three
students aged between 18 and 20 and a trader aged 23 -- were arrested by
the military intelligence in Pegu on August 2. 

"According to residents of Pegu several arrests have taken place in Pegu
lately," it said in a statement. "The crackdown seems to be the result
of the fear of the military of a repetition of the countrywide
demonstrations in 1988." 

Pegu is about 80 km (50 miles) north of Yangon and was a centre of
anti-government activism during the 1988 uprising. 

The statement said the authorities appeared concerned about the
possibility of plans to mark the 11th anniversary of the killing of 15
students and demonstrators in Pegu on August 6, 1988. 

The statement added that "according to some sources," another 40
activists from the Pegu area had been detained recently, including
members of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy
(NLD), and were being held in a military compound. 

They included the former chairman of the Pegu township NLD and an NLD MP
who were later released, it said. 

A government spokesman could not be reached for comment. 

The dissident statement said the crackdown followed the detention of 19
people in Pegu in July in connection with anti-government activity. 

Myanmar dissidents in exile have been calling for mass protests to mark
"four nines day" -- September 9, 1999. 

The government has responded by stepping up attacks against the
opposition in the state press in recent weeks. Earlier this month a
commentary in official newspapers accused NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi of
"brazenly spoiling peace" and reiterated a call for legal action against
her. 

Suu Kyi's party won Myanmar's last election in 1990 by a landslide, but
the military ignored the result and has attempted to silence the party
through a long campaign of arrests and intimidation.