Instigators Caught Red-Handed
Authority Takes Magnanimous Gesture

Prevailing peace and tranquility is the genuine situation of Myanmar. Thus the people of Myanmar, workers as well as farmers are enjoying the fruits of tranquility. People are doing their business safe and sound. These are the results made by the Government. Under the leadership and direction of the government, the atmosphere of progress can be seen even in the remotest border areas.

But some big nations and anti-government groups in foreign countries were trying to destabilize the country and cause public concern and anguish in collusion with the internal destructive group working on the pretext of democracy and human rights.

The 18 foreigners on the morning of 9 August, 1998, took taxis and then scattered the four eights commemorative small instigative leaflets, which they had smuggled into the country, at busy public places in Yangon. The public who could not stand the acts of those foreigners seized them and sent them to the nearest police station. Small red instigative leaflets on which "Goodwill Message" was printed in yellow, both in English and Myanmar bearing a fighting peacock. It said,

The instigators were three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians, two Philippinos, six Americans and one Australian. Ten of them were men. They were sent by the International Organization for Democracy in Burma in the U.S., Bangkok-based Alternative Asean Network on Burma, and the Union for Civil Liberty, and Initiative International Dialogue based in Philippine.

The incident proves that those groups in collusion with internal axe-handles were found to be carrying at synchronized activities to incite unrest in stable and peaceful country by using foreigners. However, the four eights anniversary incidents, which they expected to occur, did not materialize anywhere in Myanmar. The people, as usual, were living in peace, undisturbed.

While the instigators were interrogated by the authorities on 10 August, the embassies of Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and Malaysia asked for consular meetings with the three Thais, two Philippinos, one Australian and three Malaysians respectively. They were granted permission to meet instigators and to give them food.

Under the Criminal Procedural Law, the special court of Insein Township handed down five years' imprisonment to each on conviction that they had violated the existing law of Myanmar. But the punishment were canceled by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry passed a decision for them to leave Myanmar on 15 August in consideration of the fact that most of them were from neighbouring nations, members of ASEAN, that their countries and Myanmar are on an existing friendly terms, that they had not had any knowledge of Myanmar, that they had been organized and deceived into committing crime by the Alternative Asean Network on Burma and that they confessed to having committed the offense an requests were made by their families and officials of respective governments. So the 18 foreigners were systematically handed over to the respective embassies.

Now, one can easily understand that those foreigners were misled and caught in the trap of lies of their controllers from behind. They have witnessed the first hand experience on the genuine desire and spirit of Myanmar people.