Yangon: Myanmar’s (Burma’s) main opposition party, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, on Wednesday marked its 18th anniversary amid an outpouring of support from the international community but more detentions on the homefront.

As 400 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) gathered at their Yangon headquarters to mark their 18th year as one of the world’s most persecuted political parties, three student leaders were being detained and interrogated by Myanmar’s junta.

Myanmar security personnel early Wednesday rounded up student leaders Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe and took them to the Home Affairs Ministry for questioning.

“I think the calling away of the three student leaders was related to the (anniversary) ceremony,” said NLD spokesman Kyaik Ma Raw. “I don’t know what had been brewing.”

At least 50 people, not linked to the party, staged a peaceful sit-in outside the NLD headquarters Wednesday to demand the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May, 2003.

The NLD won 392 out of the 485 contested seats in the 1990 general election but it has been blocked from political power by Myanmar’s military hierarchy who have ruled the country since 1962.

Political protests are prohibited by Myanmar’s ruling junta, the self-styled State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

This year the NLD has something to celebrate.

On September 15, the United Nations Security Council voted in favour of a US-led proposal to put Myanmar on their agenda for the first time, citing the country’s ongoing political instability as a serious threat to regional security.

“The National League for Democracy and all the democratic activists, who had been longing for this action, are much delighted by this event, said U Lwin, chairman of the NLD.

Lwin extended special thanks to the US ambassador to Yangon and the governments of the UK, France, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Peru, Argentina, Ghana and Slovakia who voted in favour of the UN motion.

Lwin also thanked the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for its recent shift in policy towards Myanmar’s military regime.

“It is now found out that the countries from the ASEAN have changed from their initial stance and are now openly supporting NLD’s position and we must thank the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus for its encouragement backed by its political influence,” said the NLD chairman.

On its 18th anniversary the NLD was inundated with an unprecedented number of letters of support from governments and international leaders.

“The United States reaffirms its support for Aung San Suu Kyi, the
NLD, and all those around the world who are working to promote freedom, respect for human rights and democracy in Burma,” said a press statement issued by the US State Department to mark NLD’s anniversary.

“The democratic forces of Mongolia urge the UN Security Council to act on Burma, and urge the Burmese people to continue their fight for freedom. We have faced tyranny before, and won,” said a letter from Elbegdoj Tsakhia, former prime minister of Mongolia.

“Just as apartheid fell in South Africa and just as communism ended in the Soviet Union, victory will be yours,” said US Congressman Tom Lantos.

“I regard the persecution and imprisonment of members of the National League for Democracy as a crime and the fact that the international community stands idly by as a great disgrace,” wrote Nobel laureate Vaclav Havel.

“On this special occasion, we would like to express our solidarity and unity with NLD and the people of Burma,” said a statement from the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentray Myanmar Caucus.