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AFP-Myanmar exiles claim victory on



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Subject: AFP-Myanmar exiles claim victory on eve of planned uprising

Myanmar exiles claim victory on eve of planned uprising

BANGKOK, Sept 8 (AFP) - Exiled dissidents claimed a pre-emptive victory
Wednesday on the eve of planned unrest against Myanmar's military rulers as
Yangon residents waited, torn between hope and anxiety.
"It is a victory because the authorities have been forced to respond to our
action," Aung Thu Nyein, general secretary of the Thailand-based All Burma
Students Democratic Front told AFP.

"We are very excited because of all the leaflets being given out, all the
people who are taking risks."

Extra security is in force in the capital Yangon and provincial towns after
the government threatened tough treatment of any protestors.

Exiles say the government has detained hundreds of activists in recent
weeks, a claim rubbished by official spokesmen.

Activists hope to incite unrest Thursday on so-called Four Nines day or
9/9/99 in honour of hundreds gunned down in a student uprising on August 8,
1988 or 8/8/88.

A general strike has been called along with a boycott of media controlled by
the junta, which refuses to cede power to the elected democratic opposition
of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Sources told AFP dissidents will try to hold "cat and mouse" demonstrations
in the suburbs to frustrate security officers.

British protestor Rachel Goldwyn, arrested Tuesday in Yangon for singing
pro-democracy songs, meanwhile issued a fierce attack on the ruling generals
and accused British investors in Myanmar of supporting a "genocidal regime".

"I want to tell the people of Burma (Myanmar) to be brave at this important
time, and to tell the generals they better start running," Goldwyn said in a
statement prepared before her arrest.

"I want the world and particularly the British people and government to see
this genocidal regime for what it is.

"Investing in or trading with Burma funds the brutal regime that commits
these atrocities. British companies have blood on their hands too," said the
statement, dated August 15.

British diplomats told AFP they were trying to secure access to Goldwyn who
is being held by military intelligence and another imprisoned British rights
campaigner. James Mawdsley was jailed for 17 years last week after he was
arrested in Myanmar for the third time in two years.

Government officials in Yangon made no immediate comment on the British
requests.

Diplomats and observers in Yangon said few people expected mass protests
Thursday but that a security crackdown had shrouded the capital in
uncertainty.

Civil servants have been ordered to turn up for work, extra troops have been
deployed in Yangon and in the provinces and popular restaurants and
tea-shops have been ordered to close.

"There is a general feeling of hope mixed at the same time with apathy and
worry -- it's a real Burmese mixture," a diplomat told AFP.

"All of the locals (in Yangon) are worried, I think they will stay at home
on Thursday and look after their children."

Even some in the pro-democracy movement admit the planned uprising may not
occur but hope September 9 will bring Myanmar one step closer to democracy.

"There has been some small scale activity already but we know it's difficult
to protest," said one activist.

"September 9 will be a first step, so we want all the Myanmar people to join
the movement and show a green light for democracy," he said.

One exiled group, The National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) claimed
intelligence officers had been ordered to instigate violence in the event of
mass protests, to give a excuse for a crackdown.

Activists have reported that several monks were detained and a curfew
imposed on the northern city of Mandalay and pro-democracy leaflets have
been given out in Yangon and several border states.