Suu Kyi Was Pushed Down by Military

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Activist Unhurt in Myanmar Melee

 .c The Associated Press 

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Police scuffled with supporters of Myanmar's pro-
democracy leader outside her home, catching the activist in the middle of the
melee, diplomats and dissidents said Friday. 

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her opposition to Myanmar's
military regime, was believed to have fallen during the brawl but apparently
escaped injury. 

The confrontation broke out Thursday when police barred 30 to 50 youth members
of her National League for Democracy from entering her home in Yangon,
Myanmar's capital, for a regularly scheduled study session. 

Suu Kyi, 53, and her No. 2, Tin Oo, afterward spent the night with them in the
street in a ``sit-in demonstration'' in monsoon rains until 9 a.m. Friday,
when they went into her compound, the government said in a statement. Police
stood nearby. 

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Yangon said: ``We understand that nobody
has been allowed in or out of her compound since this morning, and that
security has been increased.'' 

Western diplomats said the scuffle broke out as Suu Kyi tried to escort the
young people past police lines into her home, and many had heard that Suu Kyi
had fallen but was unhurt. 

An exile opposition group, the National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma, said it was believed Suu Kyi had been pushed to the ground and that
police had used abusive language with her. 

The incident would be the first time since 1996 that Suu Kyi has been placed
in physical danger, though the government has severely curtailed her
activities. 

Suu Kyi's party, in an unusually confrontational statement, demanded Tuesday
that the regime convene by Aug. 21 the pro-democracy Parliament elected in
1990 but never allowed to meet. 

The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962. The regime
refused to honor the election result when it became clear that pro-military
parties lost. 

Suu Kyi, who vaulted to prominence during anti-government protests in 1988
that were bloodily suppressed, has been under house arrest or close
confinement for most of the last nine years. Hundreds of her supporters are in
jail.