Myanmar 1988 veterans watch nervously from exile

By Mark Trevelyan

LONDON (Reuters) - Exiled veterans of Myanmar's doomed mass protests of 1988 urged the international community on Wednesday to intervene urgently to prevent the latest pro-democracy demonstrations from turning into a bloodbath.

"It's deeply concerning, very chaotic, and the regime is going to do everything to keep power. There will be bloodshed and massacre," said Win Naing, a provincial strike leader who took part in the ill-fated uprising of two decades ago, when soldiers killed an estimated 3,000 people.

Speaking at a rally outside the Myanmar embassy in London, Naing told Reuters he was "outraged" by reports that demonstrators had been killed on Wednesday in the main city of Yangon.

Two Buddhist monks and a civilian were killed when the security forces moved in to break up the biggest demonstrations against Myanmar's ruling military junta for 20 years, hospital and monastery sources said.

"I did not think they would gun down the monks," said Naing, who fled the country in 1991 to escape harassment by the military intelligence agency.

The military has ruled for 45 years after taking power in a coup.

"We need urgent and immediate concrete action. The U.N. Security Council should send U.N. troops into Burma (Myanmar) to settle the situation as soon as possible."

About 100 demonstrators protested for an hour outside the embassy, bearing placards with slogans like "We want freedom in Burma"

Ko Aung, a student leader in 1988 who said he was later arrested and sentenced to seven years' hard labor, criticized the international community for being "already too late" to stand up to Myanmar's military rulers.

But with footage from the mass street protests leading news bulletins around the world, he voiced hope that the government would pull back from the brink.

"The difference with 1988 is the international community and the media are closely monitoring what's going on inside. The regime should realize that's not like 1988," he said.