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YANGON - Military-run Myanmar put on a show of defiance Friday on the 60th anniversary of independence from Britain amid global pressure for reform following the military's bloody crackdown on dissent.
Soldiers raised the national flag at precisely 4:28 am (2148 GMT) -- the exact moment of freedom from Britain -- at a pre-dawn ceremony at a city hall in the remote capital Naypyidaw, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Yangon.
The military's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, was absent from the brief ceremony, but called on the country to go ahead with the regime's "road map" to democracy in a message read out in front of 5,000 officials and soldiers.
The 74-year-old ruler urged people "to cooperate in realising the state's seven-step road map with union spirit, patriotic spirit and the spirit of sacrifice."
Under the military's "road map", Myanmar will adopt a constitution in a referendum which, in theory, would eventually lead to free elections in a country which has been ruled by the military since 1962.
But the United States, the European Union and the United Nations have dismissed the road map as a sham due to the absence of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party from the process.
Analysts have also said a new charter will only serve to formalise the military's role in government.
"The new constitution ensures the military will continue to play a big role in government," said Win Min, a Thailand-based Myanmar academic.
"Than Shwe was basically telling the international community that the military has its own plan for 'military-controlled' democracy," Win Min said.
The independence anniversary came as the regime faces mounting pressure for democratic reform amid tightening Western sanctions after its crackdown on peaceful protests, led by Buddhist monks, in September 2007.
The United Nations has found that at least 31 people were killed during the suppression, and 74 remain missing.
Protests began after a sudden hike in fuel prices in August that left many people in this impoverished nation unable even to afford the bus fare to work, and snowballed into the biggest threat to the military in nearly 20 years.
Despite the growing international pressure, Than Shwe was defiant in his message on Friday, saying the road map was vital for turning Myanmar into "a discipline-flourishing democratic nation."
The military leader made no reference to the September violence in his message and also made no mention of independence hero General Aung San, who is best known overseas as the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, 62.
"Than Shwe did not want to mention Aung San only because of Aung San Suu Kyi. If he glorified the role of Aung San, in a sense, he was also glorifying Aung San Suu Kyi," said Sean Turnell, an expert on Myanmar at Australia's Macquarie University.
"It's like America celebrating the Fourth of July without mentioning Washington," he said, referring to the first US president, George Washington.
In Yangon, Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, the National League for Democracy, held its own independence ceremony at its headquarters, drawing some 300 supporters under the watchful eyes of 50 plainclothes security officers.
The NLD issued a statement calling for the release of its leader and all 1,100 political prisoners in Myanmar.
The Nobel peace prize winner has spent 12 years under house arrest for her efforts to end decades of military dictatorship.
In the wake of the September crackdown, the military appointed Labour Minister Aung Kyi to liaise with her in an apparent bid to ease international pressure on the military.
Aung San Suu Kyi and the military's middleman have so far held three meetings, but since their last talks on November 19, no further date has been set. Details of their meetings have not been disclosed.
Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to victory in elections in 1990, but the military has never recognised the result.
- AFP /ls
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