Slorc attacks ASSK

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Burmese Relief Center--Japan
DATE:April 12, 1995
TIME: 7:15PM JST
SUBJ:Slorc attacks against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

SLORC LINKED TO PAMPHLET ATTACKS AGAINST
SUU KYI

Aung Zaw

Burmese intelligence officers were believed to be behind the
distribution this week of a virulent pamphlet attacking popular
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband, analysts
and Rangoon residents said.

"It is embarrassing for them to publish this kind of stuff in
their newspapers so SLORC disseminated it on the streets,"
said one observer in Rangoon.

"If not SLORC itself, then it is the DDSI," said a Bangkok-based Burma watcher
, referring to the ruling junta' Directorate
Defense Service Intelligence agency.

The timing of the attack, coming shortly after a string of
military victories over the KNU suggests the military
government is stepping up its attacks against opposition groups
and figures.

The pamphlets, which were attributed to an unknown Burmese
journalist, said "Aung San Su Kyi was neither an academic
nor a professional lady."

What was Su Kyi doing before August 1988?  Where was she
living?  Has she ever helped or worked for the welfare of the
people of Myanmar?

"She had no responsible job under any government or an
organization.  Only in 1988 she seized the chance of getting
into the political field of Myanmar and jumped on the
bandwagon and took the opportunity of pretending to be
interested in the affairs of the country and the people She
instantly claimed to be a patriotic person."

The pamphlets disputed Suu Kyi's democratic credentials and
questioned why she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1991.

"Nobody had heard her lobbying for peace for the people
around the world.  She had never risked her life or limb or
participated in any attempt to achieve peace for the mankind of
the world.  She had not even written a single letter about world
peace.  It was a big surprise to the people of the world to see
such a person like Aung San Su Kyi, being awarded a Nobel
Peace Prize."

The leaflet was signed by Tun Shwe who claimed to be an
international correspondent for the Myanmar Tele-Fax-News-Agency.

Tun Shwe took particular offense to Suu Kyi's husband,
Michael Aris, a British Tibetologist, calling him a "British
Jew" and "an unknown scholar in Tibetan art and culture." 
Tun Shwe spelt Suu Kyi's name with a Su not Suu, keeping
fashion with a style adopted by government-run newspapers.

The leaflet took a similar government position in accusing Suu
Kyi of being in league with communists and terrorists.  It
described Suu Kyi as an "opportunist seeking to gain high
position in the political field of Myanmar."

Burma watchers said the highly personal nature of the attack
recalled similar government abuse hurled at the charismatic
dissident when she emerged to lead opposition to military rule
in 1989.

Just before Suu Kyi was to give her first speech in Shwe
Dagon Pagoda, about six people were apprehended by monks
and students who were taking care of security at the time. 
Hundreds of leaflets maligning Suu Kyi and her husband were
found in their bags.  The leaflets said, "Call your bastard
foreigner and buzz off now!"  And "Genocidal prostitute." 
They were accompanied by obscene drawings.

Later it was found out that those arrested were from the DDSI. 
One was identified as Cpl San Lwin and the other Soe Naing. 
The leader of the team was a DDSI captain, Si Thu.  It is
believed that Si Thu is close to both Khin Nyunt and Gen. Ne
Win.  The then chief of DDSI was Colonel Khin Nyunt who is
now secretary one of Slorc and military intelligence chief.  

Khin Nyunt has repeatedly has accused Suu Kyi of being a
political neophyte who allowed herself to be used as a "front"
for Communist Party of Burma.   Khin Nyunt told foreign
journalists last year, "She rose up because of the Burmese
Communist Party and its underground cell."

The daughter of Burmese Independence hero Aung San, the
Oxford-educated Suu Kyi was swept into political prominence
during the upheaval of 1988.  In 1989, she led the pro-democracy movement thro
ugh non-violence and discipline. 
Even after Slorc put her under house arrest, her party, the
National League for Democracy won a landslide victory.

In an example of rather skewed and racist logic, the leaflet
asked, "Would it be acceptable to the people of the United
Kingdom if the Queen of England was to be married to a
Black West Indian or the President of the United States of
America was to be married to a Black Muslim lady?"

>From The Irrawaddy, March 15, 1995
Burma Information Group
PO Box 14154
Silver Spring, MD 20911