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Exiled Myanmar Activists Protest

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<font size=4><b>Exiled Myanmar Activists Protest<br>
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</font></b><font size=3>AP<br>
Saturday September 18 11:30 AM ET <br>
<br>
By THAKSINA KHAIKAEW Associated Press Writer <br>
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar opposition leaders predicted Saturday
that <br>
democracy is only months away - but there's been little sign of any
widespread <br>
uprising against the military government tied to recent auspicious days
and <br>
anniversaries.<br>
Only a few, small-scale acts of defiance have been reported in Myanmar in
recent <br>
weeks despite calls by the rebels for major demonstrations on 9-9-99 -
Sept. 9 - <br>
which is held to be an auspicious day.<br>
About 200 exiled activists staged a peaceful protest Saturday before the
Myanmar <br>
Embassy in Bangkok to mark the 11th anniversary of a military coup that
<br>
suppressed the pro-democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The group
chanted <br>
slogans lauding democracy and urged the international community to help
bring an <br>
end to military rule.<br>
``We are in good shape. We will achieve our goal in a few months,'' Moe
The Zun <br>
told a press conference in the Thai capital. He and other leaders of the
exiled <br>
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma said the recent high
state <br>
of security and the buying of favor by the handing out of rice and other
items <br>
in the countryside reflected the military's fear and weakness.<br>
``They are on the defensive now,'' he said, claiming that small-scale
<br>
demonstrations, the distribution of leaflets and other anti-government
agitation <br>
was continuing in many parts of Myanmar, also known as Burma.<br>
The protesters also demanded the ruling military council immediately
release all <br>
political prisoners including Rachel Goldwyn and James Mawdsley, two
British <br>
activists arrested recently in Myanmar for anti-government activities.
Both <br>
received long prison terms.<br>
But in an apparent reference to the two cases, an official Myanmar
newspaper <br>
commentary Saturday warned that the government would show no leniency to
anyone <br>
who violated the country's laws or rules.<br>
Mawdsley has been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for distributing
<br>
anti-government leaflets, while Goldwyn was handed a seven-year prison
term for <br>
``disrupting peace and stability'' by singing pro-democracy songs.<br>
In Bangkok, Thai police said the demonstrators, including nine on a
hunger <br>
strike, had to end their agitation, which began last week, by late
afternoon <br>
Saturday or face arrest. The hunger strikers were to end their fast later
<br>
Saturday, having their first meal in six days. <br>
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