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Burma leader reduces workload becau



Subject: Burma leader reduces workload because after fall


Burma leader reduces workload because after fall



Copyright © 1997 The Associated Press 

RANGOON, Burma (June 17, 1997 3:38 p.m. EDT) -- Pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu
Kyi has reduced her workload while recovering from a fall down the stairs of
her home in which
she hurt her back, neck and shoulders, her political party said Tuesday.

Rumors had been circulating around Rangoon about the Nobel peace laureate's
health. Her aides
had said she was suffering from diarrhea; diplomats said she appeared
extremely underweight and
word had spread of an accident.

The National League for Democracy said Suu Kyi fell May 21 and has responded
to medical
treatment but is still resting.

Suu Kyi's health is critical to the struggle for democracy in Burma, which
has been ruled by military
governments since 1962.

Although Suu Kyi's party is organized throughout the country, she is the
perhaps the only member
of the pro-democracy movement capable of consistently capturing
international attention because
of the clarity of her messages and considerable personal charm.

She usually is reluctant to speak about physical ailments or family life
with reporters. An aide at her
home told The Associated Press, "she can work as usual now, but she refrains
from doing
strenuous work."

Another aide, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Suu Kyi's
friends and supporters
had persuaded her to temporarily give up her vegetarian diet and resume
eating meat until she
could regain her weight and strength.

A diplomat in Rangoon who requested anonymity said the military had offered
to send Suu Kyi a
doctor, but she refused. Suu Kyi's aides said they were unaware of any such
offer.

Meanwhile, Burma's military government claimed Tuesday that 25 civilians
were killed and five
wounded in an attack by a breakaway rebel faction formerly under the command
of opium
warlord Khun Sa.

The government said 40 "armed terrorists" attacked a civilian convoy Friday
near a border
crossing into Thailand. Other details were not available.

Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army, which once numbered 10,000 guerrillas, was
disbanded when he
surrendered to the government in early 1996.

But many soldiers have stayed on the border area with Thailand and Laos and
continue producing
opium and, more recently, amphetamines.

The Burmese government has refused requests by the United States to
extradite Khun Sa on
heroin-trafficking charges.