President Mandela concerned about S

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Subject: President Mandela concerned about Suu Kyi

By Deborah Charles 

BANGKOK, July 17 (Reuter) - South African President Nelson Mandela said on
Thursday he was concerned about fellow Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
in Burma and called for dialogue to solve the political problems in Rangoon. 

Mandela, who called the Burmese opposition leader very courageous, told a
news conference he had been discussing how best to try to find a solution to
the political standoff in Burma. 

``(Suu Kyi's) position has been a matter of concern in almost every part of
the world,'' Mandela said. 

Suu Kyi has often been referred to as the ``Mandela of Asia.'' The 1991 Nobel
prizewinner was freed from six years of house arrest in July 1995. 

But she told Reuters last week on the second anniversary of her release that
repression had increased since then. 

Suu Kyi herself is closely monitored and members of her National League for
Democracy party have been arrested over the past year. 

``I discussed the matter with one emminent leader in this region and put
forward that point (of her lack of freedom),'' Mandela said. 

He said the Asian leader did not support a plan proposed by South Africa's
Archbishop Desmond Tutu to send a delegation of Nobel Peace laureates to
Burma to call for reform. 

``As (he) said, as a result of the pressure that had been put on the
leadership, the government of Burma, they had become hardened in their
attitude and it would be better not to send a delegation but to send
somebody...and do it quickly,'' he said. 

``It is easier to persuade people in private conversations... If we want a
quick result it is better to do so through dialogue,'' Mandela said, without
saying who might be sent or when talks would take place. 

Since her release from house arrest, Suu Kyi has made repeated calls for
dialogue with the military government. 

But leaders of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which seized
power after crushing pro-democracy uprisings in 1989, have not responded. 

Mandela was speaking at the end of a two-day visit to Bangkok where he was
trying to drum up investor interest in his country. 

Thailand was the last stop on a three-nation tour that included Britain and
Indonesia. 

Mandela, who turns 79 on Friday, received an honorary degree in the morning
from Chulalongkorn University.  

05:44 07-17-97