AP: 05/15/97: Burma Wants Press Kep

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Subject: AP: 05/15/97: Burma Wants Press Kept From Suu Kyi

                      Burma Wants Press Kept
                         From Suu Kyi

                         By ROBERT HORN
                         Associated Press Writer
                         Thursday, May 15, 1997 6:41 am EDT

                         BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Burma's military rulers
have asked
                         the Thai government to bar Thai reporters from
meeting with
                         democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Thai officials
said today.

                         About 15 Thai journalists will accompany Prime
Minister Chavalit
                         Yongchaiyudh when he travels to Burma to confer
with leading
                         members of that country's military government
Friday and
                         Saturday.

                         The Burmese regime has been tightening
restrictions on, and
                         denying visas to, most foreign journalists to
prevent them from
                         trying to interview Suu Kyi.

                         The generals are keeping the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize-winner in a
                         state of near-house arrest, with military
roadblocks around her
                         home preventing most supporters from reaching her.


                         Chavalit has billed himself as a friend of Burma's
 generals who can
                         use his close ties to try to expose them to
international norms of
                         behavior and help moderate their repressive
tactics.

                         Burmese democracy activists and human rights
groups charge,
                         however, that in his rush to help Thai companies
that want to do
                         business in Burma, Chavalit has backed the
military government's
                         policies.

                         Thai government spokesmen refused to comment on
the Burmese
                         request, calling it ``a very sensitive matter.''

                         A Thai diplomat, who spoke only on condition of
anonymity, said,
                         however, that Burma's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
made the
                         request to its Thai counterpart while preparations
 for the trip were
                         being arranged.

                         He said that it was the government's duty to
inform the local
                         journalists of the Burmese request. The government
 would advise
                         them that although Thailand has a tradition of
press freedom, they
                         were visiting a country that did not, the diplomat
 said.

                         However, because Thailand observes freedom of the
press, the
                         government was not in a position to bar them from
attempting to
                         meet Suu Kyi, he said.

                         He added that a Burmese liaison officer would be
posted with the
                         news corps.

                         Thai journalists who accompanied former Prime
Minister Banharn
                         Silpa-archa to Burma in 1996 complained that
Burmese
                         intelligence officers prevented them from leaving
their hotels
                         unescorted.

                                   ? Copyright 1997 The Associated Press

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