The Nation (22-8-99) (r)

[mandalay@xxxxxxxxxx]

Junta leader warns students 
Armed forces will'annihdate'activists for9-9-99 revolt 

RANGOON - The number-two leader of Burma's military regime has threatened to
'annihilate" opponents who have called for an uprising next month. 
Meanwhile, an opposition group based in Thailand claimed yesterday that
students had heckled the wife of another senior leader during her visit to
their high school near Burma's capital. 
Both sides are waging a propaganda war in the run-up to Sept 9, significant as
9-9-99, when the opposition has urged Burma's people to rise up against the
military, which has ruled for nearly four decades. 
Any increased preparedness by the security forces has been discreet, but
officials 

have announced the arrest of at least 36 people allegedly involved with the
planned uprising. 
Gen Maung Aye, army commander and vice chairman of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council, was quoted yesterday in official newspapers as saying
that
'internal subversive elements" were losing ground to the Tatmadaw, or armed
forces. 
"The Tatmadaw today is superior, stronger and more consolidated compared to
the
Tatmadaw in 1988," Maung Aye said. 'joining hands with the people, we are able
to remove any danger that might fall upon the country." 

The army crushed pro-democracy protests launched on Aug 8, 1988, in bloodshed.
But the demonstrations led to the end of a quarter-century of socialist
isolation imposed by now-retired strong man Ne Win and vaulted Aung San Suu
Kyi
to the forefront of the opposition. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in
1991. 
The new generation of generals has opened up the economy to market forces, but
keeps a heavy lid on dissent. Oppo nents hope the so-called 8-8-88 rebellion
will be succeeded by a more successful one on Sept 9, or 9-9-99. 
Numerology is widely believed in Burma, but there has been little indication
that the masses are again ready to face the guns of the,military. 
Maung Aye declared that the armed forces "would resolutely annihilate those
who
disturb the interests of the nation'. 
High on their list would be the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), a
dwindling band of former students who fled the country after the failure of
the
1988 uprising. 
The ABSDF claimed yesterday from Thailand that authorities had been tightening
control over high schools in several areas to prevent them being used as
staging areas for protests. The universities have been closed since
demonstrations in 1996. On Thursday, the group said, students from two high
schools in Tamwe township near Rangoon shouted slogans, exploded firecrackers
and banged desks in protest against a visit by Khin Win Shwe, wife of Lt Gen
Khin Nyunt, the number-three leader of the government. 
The students reportedly sang pro-democracy songs, called for an uprising on
9-9-99 and complained of excessive tuition fees and the shortage of
educational
supplies and facilities. 
Seven students were temporarily detained and handed over to their parents
after
being threatened with dismissal, the ABSDF said. 
There was no immediate comment from govermnent officials.