Burmese asylum-seekers staged a protest outside their embassy in Jalan Aman, Kuala Lumpur, today - the 18th anniversary of a bloody military crackdown that saw the deaths of more than 1,000 pro-democracy demonstrators.

Singing patriotic songs and shouting pro-democracy and anti-military slogans, the group of about 25 was closely watched by 10 police officers and personnel from the nearby Tun Razak police station and federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

Led by Mah Mau Lat, an activist from the Burmese National League for Democracy (NLD), they called for the release of incarcerated opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

Banners carried such slogans as 'Students are (meant) for schools, not for jail' and Long live Daw Suu Kyi'.The protest ended without incident.

The Burmese military had governed the country since 1962. Its clampdown on Aug 8,1988 - following calls by students and other groups for regime change - brought in an era of harsh dictatorship and large-scale human rights violations.

About 3,000 people were said to have been killed on the first day of the clampdown, while more than 10,000 students fled to the hills.

Another 100 people gathered later at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall as part of a coalition of four Burmese political parties that commemorated the '8888' tragedy.

The Free Burma Democratic Community, composed of the Malaysian chapters of the NLD, Mon National Democratic Front, Arakan League for Democracy, and Zomi National Congress, vowed to continue the struggle for peace, human rights and democracy in Burma.

NLD member Aung Kyaw Moe said Malaysia, currently chair of Asean, should press for human rights and democracy to be restored in Burma.

"Until then, Burma should not even be a part of Asean," he said when met after the event.

In a speech read out by Community secretary Kyaw Kyaw, the coalition demanded the release of Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, and other political prisoners; the handover of power to the winners of the May 1990 general elections; and cessation of oppression, torture, racist policies and practices, and other violations of human rights.