Troops Reportedly Moved Into Rangoon to Stop Demonstrations

Burmese troops moved into Rangoon on Thursday to stop thousands of masked teen-agers from demonstrating in defiance of the government’s martial law decree, diplomats and returning tourists reported.

Heavy monsoon rains lashed the crowds. Soldiers fired warning shots but no violence was reported.

Diplomats in Rengoon described the demonstrations as the largest against the military-dominated regime since student riots earlier this year.

“Both the students and military seem to be trying to avoid confrontation, but the situation is fluid, tense and dangerous,” one diplomat said.

Dissidents Jailed

Protesters, most of them high school students with their faces covered so authorities could not identify them, shouted demands for democracy, the ouster of President Sein Lwin and freedom for dissidents jailed since the former general assumed power last week.

Sein Lwin declared martial law Wednesday after students held peaceful street demonstrations. All public gatherings and protests are banned under the martial law decree.

A number of large demonstrations began simultaneously at midday Thursday, the diplomats reported, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They said the number of protesters was not immediately known but that about 10,000 gathered at the Sule Pagoda in the heart of Rangoon and soldiers fired warning shots into the air.

West European tourists interviewed on their arrival in Bangkok said they saw armored personnel carriers and jeeps armed with machine guns cruising the streets. Soldiers guarded the city hall, National Assembly building and other sites.

Rain Discourages Protesters

Reports from diplomats said the heavy rain thinned some of the demonstrators, but by late afternoon a throng had gathered at Rangoon University, a center of protest 4 miles north of the city. They said about 25 truckloads of soldiers were at the campus.

Italian tourist Otta Violavaggi said that about half the stores in downtown Rangoon closed after Wednesday’s demonstrations, which authorities said led them to declare martial law in the city of 3.5 million.

Tourists Threatened

“Everybody was very anxious. Nobody knows what to do,” said Christine Jacobs of Brussels, Belgium. Tourists said they were told they would be arrested if they took photographs.

Several Burmese said a general strike would be held Monday, the tourists said, quoting the informants as saying the date was chosen because eight is an auspicious number and Monday is the eighth day of the eighth month of 1988.