Democratic Burmese Youths

Leaflets at US, British embassies in Myanmar decry support for democracy movement

Wed Sep 5, 8:51 PM ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Leaflets demanding that U.S. and British diplomats stop their ``blatant support'' of pro-democracy protests in Myanmar were left in front of those countries' embassies Wednesday, saying they should cease their interference or be driven out.

Myanmar's government has detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs to suppress a rare wave of protests triggered by fuel price hikes last month of as much as 500 percent.

Despite the pressure, protests have been have been continuing sporadically, with one involving as many as 1,000 people claimed to have taken place Wednesday.

``We, Myanmar people, are going to punish those Myanmar traitors who rely on foreign countries,'' said one of several leaflets left in front of the embassies. ``Your blatant support and encouragement toward those scoundrels amounts to insulting the Myanmar people. We demand that such actions be stopped immediately.

'' Another, signed by the ``New Generation Burma Students Union,'' vowed that ``All traitors, neo-colonialists and embassies that interfere in the internal affairs of our country will be driven out.''

The junta and the state-controlled press have frequently accused the U.S. and Britain of colluding with pro-democracy activists in efforts to oust the government.

Both nations have imposed economic and political sanctions against the junta because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

U.S. President George W. Bush said he would raise the issue of human rights violations in Myanmar, also called Burma, at a weekend summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The leaflets left in front of the embassies were copies of handwritten pages and included several poems. All were critical of either the pro-democracy movement or the embassies. They were signed by unknown groups.

Asked to comment on the leaflets, Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, said, ``We support free speech but it's something to which all citizens of the country have the right, and should not be arrested.''

She said she would not be surprised if the people who left the leaflets had official encouragement.

A British diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with diplomatic etiquette, said the embassy was concerned that the leaflets had a threatening tone, so had lodged a request with Myanmar authorities for protection.

About 1,000 people staged a protest march Wednesday in Bogalay, a town in the Irrawaddy delta 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Yangon, the opposition National League for Democracy party said.

The report could not be independently confirmed, and sometimes such accounts exaggerate the number of people taking part. Many of the protests in the past week have involved a handful of people, in one case two men standing at a marketplace with placards. NLD spokesman Nyan Win said the head of the party's local chapter, who organized the protest, was later detained.

On Monday, Myanmar's government announced that a National Convention had finished drawing up guidelines for a new constitution, said to be the first step in a seven-stage ``roadmap to democracy.''

But U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Tuesday the results ``do not represent the will of the Burmese people, nor are they a step toward democracy.''

The guidelines give the military substantial unelected representation in parliament, and also disqualify presidential candidates who are ``entitled to the rights and privileges of a ... foreign country'' _ thereby barring Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, the detained head of the NLD, whose late husband was British.