Rangoon (dpa) - Dissidents linked to the pro-democracy movement that rocked Burma in 1988 have launched a nationwide "signature campaign" calling for the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, sources said Wednesday.

Launched by the "88 Generation Students" group, the informal plebiscite will be distributed nationwide over the next two weeks seeking signatures of those who oppose the ongoing imprisonment of Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and other political prisoners such as NLD Shan leader Khun Htun Oo, said dissident sources.

Also on the "signature campaign" list were three prominent student leaders who were arrested on September 27 - Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe - and two more, Min Zeya and Pyone Cho, arrested Saturday.

Burma's military rulers have linked the five arrested student leaders to the "88 Generation Styudents" group.

Authorities have announced in state-owned newspapers that the arrests were necessary to "prevent internal unrest and instability and terrorism," that was planned by the group with outside assistance.

The "signature campaign" comes at an awkward time for the ruling junta, which plans to resume its National Convention process on October 10.

The convention process, designed to draft a new constitution and pave the way towards an eventual general election, is the junta's answer to international demands that it implement democratic reforms, and free Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May, 2003.

The "88 Generation Students" group has pledged to publish the results of its signature campaign on the Internet as well as sending the results to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The UNSC has for the first time agreed to put Burma on its agenda this year, as posing a potential threat to regional security.

Burma has been under military rule since 1988, when it brutally suppressed student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in the streets of Rangoon, killing thousands.

The junta, which has styled itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), held a general election in 1990 that was won by the NLD in a landslide victory. It has refused to pass over power to the elected MPs for the past 16 years, citing the need for a new constitution first.

The constitution drafting process, boycotted by the NLD as a "sham," has been underway for more than a decade.