Junta accused two arrested "pseudo nuns" received NLD support ( AFP ) January 17, 2003

Junta accused two arrested "pseudo nuns" received NLD support

Rangoon, Jan 17 (AFP)

Burma's military junta on Friday accused two "pseudo nuns" arrested for protesting against the government of receiving support from exiled members of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).

"This was the work of NLD (National League for Democracy) terrorists in exile, who used religion to deliberately incite unrest in the country," said Brigadier General Than Tun, from the office of the chief of military intelligence.

Than Thun also said that several members of the NLD in exile "who had infiltrated Myanmar with the purpose of creating unrest in Yangon as well as Mandalay" had been arrested last month.

He did not specify numbers, but said there were other "pseudo Buddhist nuns" among the group.

Than Tun described the two arrested women, Than Htay and Thin Thin Oo, as "pseudo nuns" and said they had demonstrated Thursday in front of Rangoon's city hall, shouting pro-democracy and anti-government slogans and demanding the release of political prisoners.

"We confiscated two of the fighting peacock flags they were brandishing as well as a portrait of General Aung San," he said.

General Aung San -- the father of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- is considered the mastermind behind Burma's independence from Britain, while the fighting peacock is a symbol of the country's democracy movement.

One woman had become a nun a year ago, while the other had begun wearing nun's robes just 15 days ago, Than Thun said.

"That's why I say that both these people have been pretending to be Buddhist nuns and were creating unrest," he said.

"According to investigations both these persons attended a training course on democracy and human rights held at Mae Sot (in Thailand's north) by the NLD in exile," he said.

Two major exiled NLD groups in Thailand told AFP they had not heard of the women.

Burma's junta strictly forbids demonstrations of any kind, however individuals are intermittently arrested in the capital for protesting in public, usually against the ongoing rule of the regime.

Some 85 percent of Burma's population is Buddhist, and monks are highly respected.

Burma's monks have played an important role in the country's pro-democracy movement. Some 30 of them were reportedly shot dead in the August 1988 uprising by pro-democracy protestors in Rangoon, the nation's capital.