All the student leaders who were arrested in Burma on Saturday have been released.

Police had detained 20 activists in the biggest crackdown on dissent since the end of outright military rule last year.

They were picked up in several locations across the country ahead of the 50th anniversary of the brutal suppression of a student movement.

Their release was announced by a government official and confirmed by prominent activists.

Prominent activists confirmed the release of the students, who were taken into custody



"The four arrested in Yangon were released and we had information that the others around the country were also released," said Zaw Min, a veteran of the so-called 88 Generation student protests.

The arrests sparked fears authorities in Burma had taken a backward step from tentative reforms which have led to the international community easing some sanctions.

But neither the detentions, nor the presence of plain clothes police, deterred hundreds of people from gathering in Rangoon to remember the crackdown half a century ago.

"We call for the release of those arrested students immediately. This kind of arrest can harm the dignity of the government. Arrest without reason can also harm national reconciliation," said a young student leader Kyaw Ko Ko.

"We also have to accuse the government of trying to go backward."

Saturday's anniversary remembers the 1962 crackdown on students protesting against military rule in Rangoon University.

The day after the deadly army suppression, the student union building was destroyed with dynamite by the junta while some injured students were still hiding inside.

Ceremonies to remember the event have in the past been low key under the junta for fear of provoking the army.

But a bigger event on Saturday - including student leaders past and present - has been held at the Generation '88 office.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged caution over Burma's reforms and called on the government to release those still in custody from the junta era.

Ms Suu Kyi is due to attend parliament as an elected lawmaker on Monday.

ABC/AFP