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Death warning to Aung San Suu Kyi






South China Morning Post
Tuesday  June 30  1998

Death warning to Aung San Suu Kyi 

WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok 
The state-controlled media has warned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
that she could become another Ngo Dinh Diem - the former US-backed
president of South Vietnam who was murdered in a coup.

The regime also threatened the Nobel Peace prize winner with legal action
for taking her political party on a collision course with the Government.

"The Myanmar [Burmese] Government and its people can no longer tolerate the
acts of Aung San Suu Kyi who ignores the interest of the nation and the
people," said warnings carried in all three state-controlled newspapers
yesterday.

Similar threats were made in 1989 shortly before Ms Aung San Suu Kyi was
incarcerated for what turned out to be six years of house arrest.

The Burmese media faithfully reflects the views of the ruling junta, which
appears to have been provoked into using strong language by the National
League for Democracy's (NLD) call for parliament to be convened this week
along the lines of the 1990 general election which it won by a landslide.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD colleagues used a rare party convention at
her house last month to try to boost supporters' morale by reminding the
world of its stunning election victory eight years ago.

Yesterday's strong threats might have been directed at Ms Aung San Suu
Kyi's supporters and sympathisers rather than the party leader, observers
said.

"I don't think they can possibly risk the international reaction by hurting
her or even locking her up," said Aung Naing Oo, the foreign affairs
spokesman for the All Burma Students' Democratic Front in Bangkok.

The reports said Ms Aung San Suu Kyi should learn from Diem, who was used
by Western powers but did not win public support.