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US condemns attack on Burma pro-dem
Subject: US condemns attack on Burma pro-democracy leader.
U.S. condemns attack on Burma pro-democracy leader
**************************************************
November 10, 1996
RANGOON, Burma (CNN) -
The United States on Sunday
strongly condemned an attack on
pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and her two top aides,
calling on Burma's military regime
to prevent future such attacks.
"The United States is outraged by
this attack which took place under circumstances
which are -- to say the least -- extremely disturbing,
" U.S. diplomat Kent
Wiedemann said in a statement.
Wiedemann demanded the Burmese government to conduct an
immediate investigation into the attack, in which a
mob of about
200 people attacked cars carrying Suu Kyi and her aides
Saturday. Suu Kyi and witnesses said government
forces watched
the melee but did not intervene.
Mobs were still roaming the streets Sunday, but no
violence had
been reported.
In his statement, Wiedemann called on the ruling
State Law and
Order Restoration Council to punish those
responsible for the
attack and urged SLORC to "take every possible means
to assure
the safety of Aung San Suu Kyi and to prevent any
such attacks in
the future."
A government official said investigations were under
way. But the
military regime has yet to make an official
statement on Saturday's
attack.
Wiedemann and U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), who
arrived in Burma Sunday, met with senior SLORC
officials and
Suu Kyi before issuing the statement.
Suu Kyi accuses government for inciting unrest
The incident took place as Suu Kyi and two top
leaders of her
National League for Democracy, Kyi Maung and Tin Oo,
left Kyi
Maung's house in two cars to meet hundreds of
supporters. The
mob began beating the cars with fists and sticks,
smashing the
windows and denting the side of Tin Oo's vehicle.
The crowd dispersed only after a security officer
waived a pistol in
the air, witnesses said. No one was seriously
injured in the attack.
Suu Kyi said afterward that the attack had been
carefully
orchestrated by the government and carried out by
its supporters.
Witnesses also said they had little doubt that the
mob was acting
with government approval. Such large gatherings in a
public place
are illegal under military law unless the government
grants
permission.
Burma's military regime deals harshly with all
dissent and keeps a
tight control on law and order. The authorities have
barred people
from coming to listen to Suu Kyi in front of her
house where, up
until about six weeks ago, she addressed several
thousand of her
supporters every weekend. She began the meetings in
July 1995
after being released from six years of house arrest.
Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her
efforts to bring
democracy to Burma, also known as Myanmar.
[CNN News, 10 November 1996].
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