More Arrested, Others Hiding in Maungdaw

Narinjara News
Maungdaw: Burmese military authorities arrested three more Muslim leaders on Wednesday in the western border town of Maungdaw, said one local Muslim resident.

Dr. Kyaw Myint, Dr. Tun Aung, and Nur Kobi, a car driver, were arrested by Burmese intelligence forces yesterday and brought to the Sarafa Intelligence headquarters for interrogation.

The resident said, "This is the second roundup of Muslim community leaders in our town in three days, with the first roundup taking place on 30 March, 2008."

In the first raid, ten Muslim community leaders, including the chairman of the Maungdaw Distrtict Myanmar Muslim League U Than Tun, were arrested.

"I heard the leaders were severely tortured by intelligence agents during the interrogation and their health has started to deteriorate after the torture in the interrogation cell," he said.
Narinjara News
Another source said many educated Muslim leaders in Maungdaw have been hiding in fear of arrest since the first raid took place on Sunday.

The Burmese military authority has not disclosed any reasons behind the arrest, but there are rumors that the Muslim community leaders are preparing to take action in opposition to the upcoming referendum.

There is also a rumor that they were arrested by authorities because they have made connections with the NLD Rangoon headquarters to conduct their anti-referendum campaign in Maungdaw Township.

However, the town's elders in Maungdaw could not confirm the truth of this rumor because the authorities have not disclosed any details of the arrest to date, said one resident.#