Burmese Dissident Briefly eludes gu

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar dissident briefly eludes guards
  
Suu Kyi     
 July 8, 1998
Web posted at: 4:50 a.m. EDT (0850 GMT) 
YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader,
briefly eluded her government guards Tuesday and returned to her home
unharmed Wednesday after a nearly 24-hour standoff with police on a road
outside the capital. 

The military leadership said Tuesday it stopped Suu Kyi from proceeding on a
planned trip to a northern township for her own security and to prevent her
from creating political unrest. 

A statement issued Tuesday night by the military government said local
security officials stopped Suu Kyi at Shwe Mya Yar village, 50 miles north
of the capital Yangon, when they noticed the absence of a government
security team. 

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner reportedly refused to leave her car when
confronted by police, hours after a surprise break from her closely guarded
residence in the capital, official sources said. She rejected police orders
to go back until she was allowed to meet a member of her National League for
Democracy (NLD), who was brought to the car Wednesday morning from farther
north in Min Hla township, said NLD sources, speaking on condition of
anonymity. 

"The local security officials noticing the absence of Mrs. Aris' (Suu Kyi)
security team on this trip made an enquiry and requested U Aung Shwe and
Mrs. Aris not to proceed with their planned trip to Min Hla township," the
statement from the ruling State Peace and Development Council said. 

Suu Kyi, famous for her opposition to Myanmar's military regime, heads the
opposition National League for Democracy. She was held under house arrest
without trial from 1989 to 1995. 

Heightened tension between regime, opposition
Though no longer a prisoner, Suu Kyi's movements are scrutinized, and she's
accompanied by government teams on her rare trips outside her home. 

After questioning, Suu Kyi, the secretary general of the NLD, its chairman
Aung Shwe, elected NLD representative Maung Aye and her driver were denied
permission to proceed as they had planned to Min Hla township, 92 miles
away, it added. 

The government statement said they had been stopped on "grounds of security
and prevention as well as the making of unnecessary political agitation and
activities intending to create a head-on collision and confrontation with
relevant authorities in an attempt to bring about social unrest and
political disturbances." 

She is generally allowed to make visits to small groups of close friends or
associates in the capital, but not to meet with even modest crowds of her
supporters. Access to her home is also strictly controlled. 

The incident comes at a time of heightened tension between the military
regime in Myanmar -- formerly called Burma -- and the League, which recently
demanded that the military seat the winners of a 1990 general election. The
NLD won a sweeping parliamentary victory but the military never allowed the
legislature to convene. 

The ruling military regime has said that any parliament would have to be
based on a new national constitution being drafted by the
government-appointed National Convention. The convention has met since 1993
but failed to complete its task so far. 

The military has threatened to take legal action against Suu Kyi and her
party for making statements that may hinder the work of the convention. 

The military junta has been widely criticized by human rights groups and
Western governments for human rights abuses and its failure to move towards
democracy.