Junta uses ‘scare tactics’

YANGON – Soldiers announced they were hunting pro-democracy protestors in Myanmar’s largest city yesterday and the top US diplomat in the country said that military police were pulling people out of their homes during the night.

Military vehicles patrolled the streets before dawn with loudspeakers blaring, “We have photographs. We are going to make arrests!” Shari Villarosa, the acting US ambassador in Myanmar, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in Bangkok that people in Yangon were terrified.”From what we understand, military police …are travelling around the city in the middle of the night, going into homes and picking up people,” she said.Residents living near the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar’s most revered shrine and a flash point of unrest, reported that police swept through several dozen homes in the middle of the night, dragging away several men for questioning.The homes were located above shops at a marketplace that caters to the nearby pagoda, selling monks robes and begging bowls.The security forces were looking for people who had participated in demonstrations since mid-August, which troops brutally crushed on September 26 and 27 with live gunfire, tear gas and baton charges.The government says 10 people were killed but dissident groups put the toll at about 200.In addition, they say, some 6 000 people have already been arrested, including thousands of Buddhist monks who led the demonstrations, which initially started to protest a massive hike in fuel prices.Villarosa said her embassy staff had gone to some monasteries in recent days and found them completely empty.Others were barricaded by the military and declared off-limits to outsiders.Meanwhile, the junta pursued other means of intimidation.An employee from the Transport Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was told to sign a statement saying he and his family would not take part in any political activity and would not listen to foreign radio reports.Many Burmese use short-wave radios to pick up foreign English-language stations – a main source for news about their tightly controlled country.Yesterday, Human Rights Watch in Bangkok presented a man they said was a Myanmar army major who had fled the country to Thailand.The group released a transcript of an interview with the unidentified man in which he expressed shock at the crackdown.Nampa-APWe are going to make arrests!” Shari Villarosa, the acting US ambassador in Myanmar, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in Bangkok that people in Yangon were terrified.”From what we understand, military police …are travelling around the city in the middle of the night, going into homes and picking up people,” she said.Residents living near the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar’s most revered shrine and a flash point of unrest, reported that police swept through several dozen homes in the middle of the night, dragging away several men for questioning.The homes were located above shops at a marketplace that caters to the nearby pagoda, selling monks robes and begging bowls.The security forces were looking for people who had participated in demonstrations since mid-August, which troops brutally crushed on September 26 and 27 with live gunfire, tear gas and baton charges.The government says 10 people were killed but dissident groups put the toll at about 200.In addition, they say, some 6 000 people have already been arrested, including thousands of Buddhist monks who led the demonstrations, which initially started to protest a massive hike in fuel prices.Villarosa said her embassy staff had gone to some monasteries in recent days and found them completely empty.Others were barricaded by the military and declared off-limits to outsiders.Meanwhile, the junta pursued other means of intimidation.An employee from the Transport Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was told to sign a statement saying he and his family would not take part in any political activity and would not listen to foreign radio reports.Many Burmese use short-wave radios to pick up foreign English-language stations – a main source for news about their tightly controlled country.Yesterday, Human Rights Watch in Bangkok presented a man they said was a Myanmar army major who had fled the country to Thailand.The group released a transcript of an interview with the unidentified man in which he expressed shock at the crackdown.Nampa-AP