AFP-Five Myanmar student activists

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Five Myanmar student activists injured in attack on Bangkok protest
Tue 11 Aug 98 - 19:55 GMT 

BANGKOK, Aug 12 (AFP) - Five Myanmar student activists were injured here
early Wednesday when unidentified attackers threw bottles into a crowd of
anti-junta demonstrators outside Yangon's embassy, protest organisers said.
"They came on motorbikes and threw bottles at us, then drove away," added
Zaw Wint (Eds: correct), of the All Burma Students Democratic Front
(ABSDF).
The attackers included six men on two motorcycles, he said.
Two of the injured were taken to a nearby hospital, while the other three
were treated at the scene. None were seriously injured. The casualties
included one female Myanmar activist and a Thai student.
Thai students who arrived at the scene Tuesday to support their Myanmar
contemporaries mounted a security cordon around the rest of the protestors
after the attack, checking the identification cards of visitors before
allowing them entry. Witnesses said there were some 60 Myanmar activists
and 40 Thai students.
"The attackers are believed to be junta agents," added Zaw Wint.
But another ABSDF organiser, Kaung Myat, alleged Thai police were behind
the attack, claiming some five officers deployed at the week-long rally had
failed to intervene.
"We are getting no help from the police," he said.
"They are instigating problems so they can crack down on the
demonstration."
The protestors have maintained a seven-day vigil against the junta to
coincide with last Saturday's 10th anniversary of a military crackdown on
pro-democracy demonstrators which left thousands dead, according to
unofficial tolls.
Thai police and Myanmar junta officials were not immediately available for
comment.
Exiled pro-democracy groups have called for a mass campaign of civil
disobedience in Myanmar and warned of confrontation if the junta does not
convene parliament by August 21, a deadline set by the leading National
League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party.
The NLD, led by Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won 1990
elections by a landslide but the junta has refused to relinquish power.
The protestors in Bangkok said they would remain outside the Yangon embassy
until parliament was convened and some pledged to launch hunger strikes if
the August 21 deadline was not met.
The protest continued as 18 foreign activists remained in detention in
Yangon for a third day after distributing leaflets there promoting human
rights and democracy.
Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan told journalists here that although
many might sympathise with the protestors, Myanmar law was different to
that of Thailand and other countries and was an internal affair for the
isolated state.
"We sympathise with the struggle," he said.
"We wish them well. But we stop at the border," Surin added, saying the
actions of the demonstrators could not be condoned by Thailand,
"particularly for foreigners."
Thai police have repeatedly asked the protestors here to disperse,
deploying riot troops at one stage, but insisted they would not use force
to break up the demonstration.