Burma junta arrests 13 dissidents amid rising tensions [UPDATED]

State-run newspapers said authorities on Tuesday night arrested 13 members of the 88 Generation Students groups including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Pyone Cho, Min Zeya, Mya Aye, Kyaw Min Yu, Zeya, Kyaw Kyaw Htwe, Arnt Bwe Kyaw, Panneik Tun, Zaw Zaw Min, Thet Zaw and Nyan Lin Tun for questioning.

The ruling junta accused the "agitators" of exploiting last week's fuel price hike to cause civil unrest.

"All in all, their agitation to cause civil unrest was aimed at undermining peace and security of the state," said the government-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

Despite the arrests, about 100 people marched Wednesday in protest against the fuel hikes from Kamaryunt to Hlaing township in Rangoon.

Led by 88 Generation Students' leaders Aung Naing and Mee Mee, who were not arrested Tuesday, the demonstrators appealed to people to join them in the peaceful protest.  

Burma's military rulers have accused the arrested 88 Generation dissidents of trying to organise a mass demonstration outside Yangon City Hall for Thursday.  

The 88 Generation Students are one of the few dissident groups remaining in Burma, which has been under the equivalent of martial law since a brutal army crackdown on mass anti-military demonstrations in September 1988.

The group comprises former student leaders who participated in the 1988 demonstrations and are now committed to non-violent means of undermining military rule and ushering in democracy.

Their arrests drew immediate condemnation from human rights organisations and Burmese democracy activists living abroad.

"Min Ko Naing and the other leaders arrested have all been severely tortured during previous incarcerations and we are gravely concerned for their immediate well-being," said Aung Din, policy director at the US Campaign for Burma.

"We call on China and the United Nations to take immediate action to ensure their safety and release."

The arrests precede a planned visit by United Nations Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari in the coming weeks and months after China vetoed a peaceful UN Security Council resolution that would have strengthened the hand of the UN in dealing with Burma.

Sources said the crackdown was linked to heightening unrest in Rangoon, Burma's former capital, over the doubling of fuel prices last week, that has led to a doubling in transportation costs and rising inflation. There were sporadic protests in Rangoon since Monday.

On Tuesday police and so-called pro-government "patriots" blocked hundreds of dissidents, led by 88 Generation Students, who were attempting to march to the headquarters of the National League of Democracy (NLD) in Rangoon.

The NLD, headed by detained democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi, had warned authorities in a statement Monday that demonstrations would break out unless they reversed last week's decision to more than double benzine and diesel prices at state petrol stations.

On Monday evening Buddhist monks in the precincts of Kabaraye Pagoda and Thanlyin also staged protests against the deteriorating economic conditions. The monkhood has a long history of political activism in Burma.

Monks joined students in the 1988 anti-military demonstrations that rocked the nation that year, ending in a bloodbath.

Burma has been suffering double-digit inflation since last year. The recent fuel price hikes, which also applied to compressed natural gas (CNG) used by the public buses, have more than doubled transportation costs.

The nationwide anti-military demonstrations of 1988 were sparked by growing discontent with the country's deteriorating economy, combined with mounting frustration with the country's military dictatorship.

In 1987 Burma, once Asia's leading rice exporter, was downgraded to a Least Developed Developing Country (LDDC) status at the United Nations as a means of lessening its international debt burden.

The impoverished status led to widespread disillusionment with the so-called "Burmese Way to Socialism" advocated by the military since it seized power with a coup in 1962.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur