Burma Activist Praises Military

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Burma Activist Praises Military 
Sunday, September 28, 1997; 3:23 p.m. EDT 
RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Burma's leading democracy activist praised her 
country's military rulers Sunday for permitting the biggest opposition 
gathering in years and asked them to follow up with negotiations and the 
release of political prisoners. 
Wearing a traditional sarong and with her hair tied up in roses, a cheerful 
Aung San Suu Kyi expressed hope that the gathering of 700 members of her 
National League for Democracy would mark a first step in the government 
lifting a crackdown on her movement. 
"Our people are happy because we were able to hold a congress, and I think the 
country and the international observers will take due note of the fact that 
the authorities have tried to be cooperative," Suu Kyi said in a short speech. 

Previous NLD attempts to hold large meetings were prevented by mass roundups. 
Suu Kyi, freed from six years of house arrest in 1995, has been largely 
confined to her home for the past year. 
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was frequently interrupted by applause and 
cheers from the delegates, who had traveled from around Burma for the 
congress, which opened Saturday. It marked the ninth anniversary of the NLD's 
founding in 1988 after the military crushed an uprising, killing thousands of 
demonstrators. 
Military intelligence agents took pictures of the delegates as they came and 
left Suu Kyi's residence-blocked off to the general public for more than a 
year by police barricades-but otherwise kept a low profile. 
The meeting was the largest the democratic opposition had been allowed to hold 
since shortly after 1990 elections. The opposition won overwhelmingly, but the 
ruling party, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, never allowed 
Parliament to convene. 
In a resolution passed Sunday, the NLD urged the council to negotiate with it, 
honor the 1990 election results and convene Parliament, and free political 
prisoners. 
"We will not go in for vindictiveness or revenge," Suu Kyi said. "We will not 
bear grudges. Our aim is to create a truly united Burma in which human rights 
and democratic rights are guaranteed." 
The council's motives are unclear. The government is believed to have come 
under discreet pressure from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to 
break Burma's political deadlock as a condition for becoming an ASEAN member 
in July. Burma also is suffering from severe inflation and its rice crop was 
hurt by recent flooding. 
Suu Kyi estimated that Burma has about 1,000 political prisoners. Human-rights 
groups have said they are subject to routine abuse and poor diet and health 
care. 
The NLD is wary that the government's apparent recent softening may be aimed 
at splitting and weakening the party, and Suu Kyi urged supporters Saturday to 
strive for unity. 
The gathering follows an attempt two weeks ago by Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, one of 
the regime's top four officials, to arrange a meeting with NLD Chairman Aung 
Shwe to discuss national problems. 
The meeting excluded Suu Kyi and popular NLD vice chairmen Tin Oo and Kyi 
Maung. The NLD refused to attend because the meeting didn't include all the 
leaders, handing the State Law and Order Restoration Council a rare public 
relations victory.