Key activists arrested in Burma

Those held include at least seven top leaders of the pro-democracy 88 Generation Students group.

Correspondents say it seems likely that the arrests stem from the government's fear that the protests could spread.

However, at least 200 people have now taken part in further fuel price protests in Rangoon.

Defying the junta

Burma's state media said the activists were arrested for "undermining stability and the security of the nation".

The seven activists being held are all leaders of a student group that was at the forefront of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising that was violently put down by the military.

They include Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Min Zeya - some of Burma's most prominent dissidents after Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Several university students and activists from another group were also reportedly held.

The arrests were probably an attempt by the military to pre-empt a repeat of Sunday's protest at the doubling of fuel prices, correspondents say.

But on Wednesday about 200 people defied the visible presence of armed police and marched through Rangoon, while being cheered by onlookers.

"We are marching to highlight the economic hardship that Myanmar (Burma) people are facing now, which has been exacerbated by the fuel price hike," one protester told the Associated Press news agency.

According to the BBC's South-East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, the prospect of economic protests linking up with the 1988 veterans would be especially alarming to the military government.

It was this combination of factors the led to the near overthrow of the military regime during that first uprising 19 years ago.

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