Government disperses protest with water cannons .
RANGOON 1996-12-07
Burmese troops and riot police moved in to disperse a student street protest at a suburban road junction near the Ranyon ( Rangoon ) University early on Saturday , witnesses said .
They said police and troops used water cannons from fire engines to subdue about 120 university students sitting in at the centre of the junction at about 3 a.m. before they moved in to round them up .
The students , who had staged an 11-hour protest at the junction in northern Rangoon , were taken away in three vehicles .
The witnesses said some of the students were hit with batons while they were herded onto the vehicles and it was believed they were taken to the Insein prison in suburban Rangoon .
The protesting students , mostly from Rangoon University , were demanding the right to organise independent unions on campuses and the release of about 80 student leaders currently in jail .
They were among 500 students who started demonstrating at the intersection on late Friday afternoon .
The protest was the second major one in five days in the capital .