The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Yangon

Myanmar's military government has granted amnesty to 8,585 prisoners as a gesture to the United Nations and to celebrate progress on its long-awaited constitution, state media said Tuesday.

It was unclear, however, if any of the prisoners released were among those detained when the junta cracked down on anti-government protests in September, sparking global outrage and a flurry of visits by U.N. officials. A dozen political prisoners were among those released, but none of them was detained in connection with the recent protests, said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy. The junta traditionally frees prisoners on holidays such as Independence Day in January and to mark other occasions. The amnesties were handed out to show "cooperation with the United Nations and the international community" and to hail recent progress in composing a constitution, the Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported.