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NEWS - Embassy Siege a Departure fo



Subject: NEWS - Embassy Siege a Departure for Myanmar Dissidents

Embassy Siege a Departure for Myanmar Dissidents

BANGKOK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The storming of Myanmar's Bangkok embassy by
a group of heavily armed dissidents amid volleys of gunfire marks a
radical departure from years of largely peaceful protests by opponents
of military rule. 

Myanmar's mainstream opposition led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi has always stressed non-violent resistance to military rule
which began when soldiers killed thousands to crush a pro-democracy
uprising in 1988. 

And in the past 10 years dissidents in exile have also mostly confined
their protests to peaceful protests, including hunger strikes, outside
Myanmar embassies. 

However, in a forewarning last month, about 100 protesters broke into
the Myanmar embassy in Australia after smashing fences and overpowering
police. The protesters were later cleared from the embassy compound but
began a sit-on outside. 

That protest followed a worldwide call from exiled dissidents for an new
uprising against military rule on "four nines" day -- September 9, 1999.
Similar protests were held in other Australian cities and in capitals of
Asian countries, but the uprising failed to materialise. 

EMBASSY SIEGE MOST DRAMATIC INVOLVING DISSIDENTS 

Friday's embassy attack was carried out by men armed with grenades and
assault rifles. It was the most dramatic involving Myanmar dissidents in
nearly a decade -- since two activists hijacked a Thai International
Airways plane carrying more than 200 passengers on a flight from Yangon
to Bangkok. 

The hijackers diverted the plane to India but all aboard were freed
unharmed. It transpired that the grenades with which they had threatened
to blow up the aircraft were made of soap and wire. 

The Indian authorities, then opposed to Myanmar's military rulers, later
allowed the hijackers to address a news conference to publicise their
cause. 

Two years earlier, two other dissidents had hijacked a Myanmar domestic
airliner to Thailand with a fake bomb made from a box of soap powder.
They later released all 83 passengers unharmed and were jailed for six
years in 1990. 

They were freed themselves three years later under a broad royal amnesty
to mark Thai Queen Sirikit's 60th birthday. 

Mainstream exile groups denied involvement in the Bangkok embassy attack
and a faxed statement from the hitherto unknown "Vigorous Burmese
Student Warriors" claimed responsibility. 

It demanded that Myanmar's military government free political prisoners,
start dialogue with Suu Kyi's opposition and convene a democratic
parliament. 

MYANMAR MILITARY GOVERNMENT SURPRISED BY ATTACK 

The embassy siege has even confounded the ruling Myanmar military whose
spokesman told Reuters: 

	     "We don't know yet which organisation or group they are
representing. It's a bit too early to tell. We have talked to
the Thai authorities and they are taking action."
	    Myanmar's hardline generals have long resisted demands from
the opposition, which won the country's last election in 1990 by
a landslide, only for the military to ignore the result.
	    Journalist and Myanmar scholar Bertil Lintner, a leading
expert on dissident movements, said the attack showed the
growing frustration among some opponents of the military.
	    "These are desperate people who have been banging their
heads against a wall for so long without getting anywhere," he
said.
	    Thai authorities have expressed hope that their famous
powers of compromise and persuasion will bring the current
standoff to a peaceful conclusion.
	    Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai visited the security command
centre at the scene on Friday evening having earlier told
reporters the government would do its best to ensure the siege
ended without violence.
	    "The priority now is to get the hostages out. We are not
sure how long the situation will last, but we will try to let
those students meet with anyone they want," he said.
	    The hostage-takers said on Friday evening that so far they
had not killed anyone and wanted to talk to Thai authorities.
	    But they also warned in their fax: "We are ready to die in
action unless we get our demands."