Security forces arrest 20 students in Yangon<\/p>\n
YANGON (Reuter): Myanmar's security forces arrested about 20
\nstudents amid scattered protests in the capital Yangon, witnesses
\nand diplomats said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Some 50 Yangon University students staged a brief anti-
\ngovernment protest in front of the U.S. embassy in the center of
\nthe city late on Tuesday, they told Reuters.<\/p>\n
\"They gathered near the embassy after either walking or taking
\nbuses to the embassy. About 20 students were arrested,\" a student
\nsource said.<\/p>\n
Government confirmation was not immediately available. More
\nthan 100 students at a medical school in central Yangon shouted
\nanti-government slogans at the gate of their campus on Tuesday
\nand later dispersed, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Police and military personnel manned checkpoints in the
\nvicinity of the university and the Yangon Institute of Technology
\nfor the sixth day.<\/p>\n
All university campuses have been closed since Monday and
\nstudent sources said yesterday that parents were told by campus
\nauthorities to take home boarding students for two weeks.<\/p>\n
Anti-government street protests staged by students last week
\nwere the biggest seen in Yangon since the pro-democracy uprisings
\nof 1988, which the military crushed leaving thousands dead or in
\njail.<\/p>\n
At the peak of the demonstrations, thousands of protesters
\ntook to the streets from the two colleges. The authorities broke
\nup the protests, held over 860 students and later freed them.<\/p>\n
The students were protesting against alleged police brutality
\nduring a brawl in October between some institute students and
\nrestaurant owners. They also want to be allowed to set up student
\nunions on campus.<\/p>\n
Official Myanmar media yesterday quoted top officials of the
\nruling military-led State Law and Order Restoration Council
\n(SLORC) as warning against further disturbances by unnamed
\npoliticians and students.<\/p>\n
\"If peace and tranquility are marred due to lack of restraint
\nand thoughtlessness of some politicians, arrangements for the
\nbuilding of a modern nation will meet with delay, hindrance or
\ndisruption,\" SLORC chairman Senior Gen. Than Shwe said in speech
\nto the government-run Union Solidarity and Development
\nAssociation.<\/p>\n
Powerful military intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt told
\nMyanmar writers at a ceremony yesterday to beware the threat to
\nMyanmar posed by internal and external destructive elements. He
\ndid not identify the elements.<\/p>\n
Diplomats said the SLORC had issued circulars to all embassies
\nin Yangon, informing them the SLORC had exercised maximum
\nrestraint despite sustained student protests.<\/p>\n
The circular said the SLORC request for opposition leader Aung
\nSan Suu Kyi to temporarily confine herself to her lakeside
\nresidence was for the Nobel laureate's own safety.<\/p>\n
Suu Kyi has denied NLD members were involved in the unrest and
\nprotested restrictions on her movements.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/security-forces-arrest-20-students-in-yangon-1447893297",
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