Myanmar regime arrests four more protest leaders

Oct 14, 2007, 3:09 GMT

   Yangon - In their ongoing crackdown on all flickers of dissent, Myanmar authorities have arrested four protest leaders who have been in hiding for weeks, sources said Sunday.

   The four people, identified as Htay Kywe, Aung Thu, Ko Ko and Mi Mi, were arrested Saturday evening, opposition sources said.

   All four belonged to the '88 Generation Students' group that played a leadership role organizing peaceful protests against rising fuel prices that started on August 19 and crescendoed on September 24 and 25 with 100,000-strong demonstrations in Yangon led by Buddhist monks.

   Htay Kywe has been in hiding since August 21, when 12 other 88 Generation leaders were arrested. The group, dedicated to non-violent dissent against Myanmar's ruling junta, takes its name from the 1988 pro-democracy movement that ended in a bloodbath.

    Last month's protests also ended in a crackdown. On September 26 to 27 riot police and troops attacked monks and their laymen followers with batons, tear-gas and bullets in an onslaught that left ten dead, according to official figures, and more than 2,000 under arrest.

    Others claim the death toll was closer to 200.

    The regime's latest display of brutality has outraged the international community and strengthened calls for a dialogue between the junta and its opponents to bring some form of democracy to the country which has been under military rule since 1962.

    Myanmar is one of the world's most isolated regimes with a long history of xenophobia and mistrust of the west.

    The international community's criticisms of the junta is eliciting an increasingly belligerent response.

    On Saturday tens of thousands of pro-government protesters gathered in Yangon for an orchestrated demonstration against outside interference in Myanmar's affairs.

   An estimated 50,000 people joined the pro-government rally at the Thuwanna Sports Field in Yangon, eyewitnesses said.

   The crowd shouted slogans condemning last month's monk-led rebellion and called for the restoration of 'peace and security' and for non-interference in Myanmar's affairs by international organizations and governments.

   Such government-sponsored demonstrations are typical in Myanmar.

   On Thursday the United Nations Security Council issued a statement 'strongly' deploring the Myanmar military government's repression of pro-democracy demonstrators.

    Although Myanmar's military supremo Senior General Than Shwe met with UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari earlier this month, there is little optimism that the junta is sincere about giving up its absolute power any time soon.

   Shwe agreed to initiate a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy who has been living under house arrest for more than 10 years, but only if she drops her support for western sanctions against the regime.

   On Friday night the government issued a statement that described the UN Security Council's statement as 'deplorable.'

   'At any costs Myanmar will continue implementing the seven-step road map to democracy in keeping with the wishes of the people,' said the statement, which was repeated by The New Light of Myanmar.

   The seven-step plan is the junta's proposed solution to bringing democracy to Myanmar. The process, which includes drafting a new constitution, holding a referendum on it and eventually staging a general election, is expected to take years to implement and will assure the military keeps its dominant role in ruling the country.

   The plan has been roundly criticized as a 'sham' by opposition politicians, western democracies and the UN, and has lost its last shred of credibility in the aftermath of the anti-military demonstrations of last month.