Burma Says West Pushing for Suu Kyi (r)

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Burma Says West Pushing for Suu Kyi as Leader

Monday April 28 8:35 AM EDT 

Burma Says West Pushing for Suu Kyi as Leader

RANGOON, Burma (Reuter) - Burma on Monday said Western nations were likely
to maintain
pressure on the country following the imposition of U.S. sanctions until
opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi won power. 

"(The West) will continue to exert pressure on Myanmar (Burma) until the
woman they prefer
ascends the throne," a commentary in state-run newspapers said. 

"They will continue to harass Myanmar with a heap of fabricated news until
Myanmar people are
impoverished and starved and kneel before her and ask 'Save us! Help us!"' 

The commentary did not mention Suu Kyi by name, but referred to the
"daughter of the national
leader." Suu Kyi is daughter of Burma's independence hero Aung San. 

"I have already reckoned this (sanctions) would happen one day. I have also
estimated what further
steps they will take," the commentary by columnist Sithu Nyein Aye said. 

Washington banned new American investment in Burma last week. Earlier this
year, the European
Union decided to remove trade privileges for some exports. 

The United States and the European Union both cited human rights abuses
committed by Burma's
military government for their decision and its repression of the democracy
movement led by Suu Kyi.

Malaysia on Monday called attempts by the United States to block Burma's
entry into the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) "completely untenable." 

Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry, Rafidah Aziz said
the U.S. sanctions "and
the aggressive U.S. effort to prevent Myanmar from becoming an ASEAN member"
must be
resisted by the seven-member group. 

The United States stepped up pressure on Friday by openly opposing Burma's
entry into ASEAN,
expected this year. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said
Washington planned to use its
influence with ASEAN partners to lobby the group. 

ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam, is expected to admit Burma, Cambodia and Laos as ful members this
year. 

The Rangoon newspaper commentary said Washington wanted Suu Kyi to be leader
because she
would be "pro-West" and would give Western nations a foothold on the most
strategic region of
Southeast Asia. 

Burma's media, considered a mouthpiece of the military government, and
government officials often
accuse Suu Kyi of being a "minion" or "lackey" of the West, in part because
of her marriage to
British academic Michael Aris. 

"Myanmars took interest in the daughter of the national leader they
respected and admired and
flocked to her for curiosity," the commentary said. "She relished it and she
later cannot see the truth."

Since being released from six years of house arrest in July, 1995, Nobel
Peace laureate Suu Kyi has
made repeated, unanswered pleas to the government to talk about ways to
restore democracy to
Burma. 

She has also urged foreign investors not to come to Burma until the
situation improved and was a
vocal proponent of the U.S. economic sanctions. 

The commentary said Suu Kyi was trying to ruin the country. 

Suu Kyi has been under virtual house arrest since December when students
took to the streets in
rare anti-government protests.