KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Reuters) - Detainees from Myanmar rioted at a Malaysian holding camp on Monday, torching a building, after hearing they had been denied asylum in a third country, the authorities said.

Some 72 Myanmarese, who were being held at a camp just outside the capital Kuala Lumpur, forced their way into an administrative block and set it ablaze, the Immigration Department's head of enforcement, Ishak Mohammad, said.

"They were disappointed on hearing the UNHCR (the U.N. Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) couldn't get a placement for them in a third country," he told Reuters. Malaysia considers them to be illegal immigrants.

JEDDAH, 17 April 2008 — The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has allowed Burmese residents in the Kingdom to open bank accounts without the need to present copies of their passport.

“Burmese nationals will be allowed to conduct all banking transactions, including opening of current, fixed and investment accounts as long as they hold valid resident permits,” SAMA said in a statement. “They don’t need to submit copies of their passports as is the case for other foreign nationals,” said the statement quoted in Al-Eqtisadiah.

However, SAMA urged Burmese residents intending to open bank accounts to give an undertaking that they would present copies of their passports after receiving them from their embassies.

Ref: EC-009/RLDB-HQ/2008

We are extremely shocked to hear the raid of the office of Myanmar Muslim Council (MMC) in Maungdaw and continuously detentions of its members including Chairperson together with many other prominent Rohingya intellectuals, elders, doctors and well-known Islamic religious scholars of the region for unknown reason since last week.

We are also very upset upon the news of physical torturing and other form of abuses to these highly dignified persons by the Burmese intelligence so-called Sa-Ra-Pa.

Still it is hard to confirm the cause of detention but some said as the group planned to oppose the SPDC’s next coming referendum by joining with the National League for Democracy (NLD) which won 85% of the parliamentary seats during 1990s General Election but the junta refused to recognize them. However some others said the reason as the group has sent a letter to the head of the state at Nay Pyi daw against local authorities of their awful mistreatments toward the local people.

Kaladan Press

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The crackdown on Myanmar Muslim Council (MMC) members continued in Maungdaw Township. Yesterday night the authorities picked up township level members. Earlier district level members were arrested.

The arrested were identified as Dr. Kamal, Doctor Zahirb, a dentist hailing from Ba Gone Nah village, Nur Khobir, the younger brother of late master Md. Yunus, Haji Shamshu,  former Village Peace  and Development Council (VPDC) chairman  and Baha Du from Nafati Dil in Maungdaw Township, according to an aide of police under Maungdaw town.