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Daw Suu Continued A Fourth Day In H



Myanmar junta slams Suu Kyi car protest 
05:13 a.m. Jul 27, 1998 Eastern 

YANGON, July 27 (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
continued a fourth day in her car at a southwestern village on Monday to
protest against moves to stop her from meeting party members, a source close
to her party said. 

The National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader has refused to budge
from the spot where she was stopped early on Friday in Anyarsu about 64 km
(20 miles) from Yangon and rejected a request by the ruling military junta
that she go back to her home in Yangon. 

``She is still there,'' a source close to the NLD told Reuters. 

An official of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) said on
Sunday that Suu Kyi had refused to answer questions from security men and
declined to return home. 

``We attempted to talk to her seven times on Sunday but there was no
answer,'' said the official. 

Late on Sunday, witnesses saw Suu Kyi sitting in her white sedan with two
drivers. Security men were in the area and an ambulance was parked nearby.
Officials said the ambulance was there for use in case of any emergency. 

The NLD said on Sunday that the government would be held responsible if
something went wrong with her health because of her car sit-in. But a
security official said Suu Kyi probably had dry rations such as biscuits to
eat. 

The NLD had said on Friday that she was on her way to a western township to
meet party supporters when she was stopped. This was the third time she was
blocked from making trips to townships after being stopped on July 7 and 20. 

The SPDC said in a statement that Suu Kyi and two drivers in the car had
been stopped because she did not have her security team with her on the trip. 

The junta has said that it is worried some anti-government elements might
harm Suu Kyi and lay the blame on it. But the opposition believes that it is
just an excuse used by the military to curb her political activities. 

The government has said that it is concerned that her movements might cause
political disturbances. 

The SPDC has accused Suu Kyi and the NLD of turning a deaf ear to the
authorities appeal to them not to disrupt government moves to reopen
sometime next month institutions of higher learning that were closed after
student unrest in December 1996. 

On the previous two occasions she was blocked from going to the townships
the authorities made other arrangements for her to meet the people she
wanted to see in Yangon. 

But this time, Suu Kyi has refused to tell the local authorities where she
was going or give details of her trip. 

Security officials said they might not make similar arrangements this time
for her to meet party members in Yangon because she had forced a
confrontation with the government. 

Confrontation between the NLD and the SPDC has intensified in recent weeks
with the opposition demanding the government convene parliament by August 21. 

The NLD swept the last general election in May 1990, but the military
ignored the results and has refused to convene parliament. 

The SPDC has retaliated by clamping down on the movements of opposition MPs
in the townships, confining them there and requiring them to report twice
daily to security officials. 

The military government on Monday charged that the NLD had colluded with
some western embassies in Yangon and had secured support and necessary
assistance from them. 

``This incident will be made a political issue at the ASEAN Ministers
Meeting (in Manila) while the same western countries will berate Myanmar and
at the same time influence others to put pressure on or at least isolate
her,'' said a statement issued by the government. 

``For obvious reason, beside creating a concerted and timely fashion-action
incident for overseas consumption, an agitation tailored to coincide with
the resumption of the institutes of higher education has also being
dogmatically pursued by NLD for its internal political agenda,'' the
statement said. 

Meanwhile, state-run Myanmar newspapers said in a commentary that NLD
leaders were trying to destroy the country. 

``Leaders of National League for Democracy (NLD) party are trying to destroy
Myanmar, by making the people destitute and by pushing back the country to
fall again under the foot of the colonialists,'' the papers said. 

Touching on demands by NLD for the government to convene parliament by
August 21, the papers said: ``Parliament can be summoned only when there is
a state constitution law.'' 


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