Myanmar junta accuses exiles of whipping up unrest

YANGON, Sep 7 (Reuters) Myanmar's official media accused exile dissident groups on Friday of fomenting two weeks of rare protests and said "the people will not accept any acts to destabilize the nation".

"The government has information that external anti-government groups are giving directives and providing various sorts of assistance to internal anti-government groups to stir up mass demonstrations and instability," junta-run newspapers said.

State-owned MRTV also reported its version of two days of protests by Buddhist monks in the town of Pakkoku, 130 km from Mandalay, the latest in a series of sporadic protests against huge fuel price rises last month.

It said the seizure of 13 government officials and torching of their cars was the result of external agitation.

"The people will not accept any acts to destabilize the nation and harm their interests and are willing to prevent such destructive acts," the newspapers said.

Pakkoku residents laid the blame for yesterday's protest by several hundred young monks squarely on the military junta, whose troops fired warning shots over the heads of monks during a peaceful protest march the previous day.

Some residents told Reuters that soldiers and pro-junta gangs had manhandled monks and bystanders when they broke up the march.

"The monks were just peacefully marching, reciting holy scriptures. But it was handled very cruelly and rudely. Some monks were beaten and tied up to the lampposts," a resident said.

Another resident said local members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, the pro-junta civilian group that has been used to break up many of the protests, had gone into hiding because some monks had been looking for them.

REUTERS ARB HS1022