NEWS - Yangon Quiet as Suu Kyi Pays

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Yangon Quiet as Suu Kyi Pays Martyrs' Day Respects

            Reuters
            19-JUL-98

            YANGON, July 19 (Reuters)- Myanmar's capital Yangon was
quiet and
            security relaxed as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi paid
respects at her
            father's tomb in Yangon on Sunday morning as the country
commemorated
            its annual Martyrs' Day. 

            The ruling government had recently warned opposition groups
against
            fuelling rumours there would be unrest in the city either
this Sunday or on
            August 8, the 10th anniversary of the 1988 student protests
which were
            crushed by the military. 

            Suu Kyi arrived at the Martyrs' Mausoleum near the foot of
the central
            Shwedegon Pagoda Hill this morning in a black
government-arranged sedan.

            For the fourth consecutive Martyrs' Day ceremony Suu Kyi was
accompanied
            by Colonel Than Tun, a senior government intelligence
officer who has acted
            as her liaison since her release from house arrest on July
10, 1995. 

            Dressed in a traditional black longyi (sarong), white blouse
and black scarf,
            53-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate Suu Kyi knelt and placed
three baskets of
            flowers before the tomb. 

            Suu Kyi's father General Aung San, the architect of
Myanmar's
            independence from Britain, six of his cabinet colleagues, a
secretary and a
            bodyguard were gunned down on July 19, 1947 while holding a
meeting six
            months before the country's independence. 

            Top government generals from the ruling State Peace and
Development
            Council (SPDC) did not attend this morning's ceremony but
were
            represented by the Minister of Culture Win Sein and other
government
            officials. 

            They laid a wreath on behalf of the SPDC chairman, Senior
General Than
            Shwe. 

            Suu Kyi's opposition party the National League for
Democracy, which won a
            landslide general election victory in 1990 that was never
recognised by the
            government, also marked the day with a ceremony. 

            About 500 guests, including party members, foreign diplomats
and some
            veteran politicians gathered inside Suu Kyi's lakeside
residence for a
            commemoration but no speeches were made. 

            Security arrangements near Suu Kyi's residence were more
relaxed than
            normal and there were no reports of disturbances elsewhere
in the city.