NEWS - Junta Ends Suu Kyi Car Prote

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Junta Ends Suu Kyi Car Protest, US Condemns Action

            Reuters
            30-JUL-98

            YANGON, July 30 (Reuters)- Myanmar's military said on
Thursday it
            ended opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's car sit-in
protest on
            Wednesday on her doctors' advice, but the United States
condemned
            the action. 

            The junta said it had no choice but to forcibly return Suu
Kyi to her
            Yangon home after noting her personal physicians' advice and
the
            failure of her physician and top officials from her National
League for
            Democracy (NLD) party to persuade her to end the standoff. 

            ``She may not like what we did to her now but she will be
grateful for
            this in the future,'' a government spokesman told a news
conference. 

            U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in a speech
in Sydney
            that the junta's move to force Suu Kyi to end the six-day
protest was
            ``an unacceptable violation of her human rights.'' 

            ``Today, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was marking her sixth day in
the
            standoff, was all of a sudden taken in her car by a military
driver back
            to Rangoon and thereby forbidden from exercising a basic
human
            right-- to be able to travel freely in your own country,''
said Albright. 

            NLD officials were unavailable for immediate comment on Suu
Kyi's
            return. But the party was due to hold a news conference
later on
            Thursday on the standoff. 

            Suu Kyi began the sit-in in her car last Friday on the
outskirts of the
            capital after security officials stopped her vehicle and
prevented her
            from proceeding to western Pathein Township to meet
supporters. 

            The Nobel peace prize winner refused to budge from the spot
and
            rejected a government request that she return to Yangon for
further
            talks on her demand to be allowed to travel freely. 

            Yangon-based diplomats had said on Wednesday that Suu Kyi
was
            running out of food and her health may be failing. But the
military
            denied this and said it had food and medical assistance at
hand for
            her. 

            Her unusual protest sparked wide international condemnation
of the
            ruling junta by some leading countries, including the United
States and
            Japan, which vowed to continue applying pressure on the
government. 

            The government spokesman said three top officials of Suu
Kyi's NLD
            party tried for nearly two hours late on Wednesday to
convince her to
            end the protest but failed. They then left it up to the
government to take
            action, the spokesman said. 

            A Yangon-based diplomat told Reuters that Suu Kyi was
accompanied
            by two security men back to her residence in the capital,
where she
            arrived at 10.20 p.m. (1530 GMT). 

            ``The government on its part, taking this initiative to
break the standoff,
            does not have much to gain since it is not responsible for
any act that
            a person or a group of persons does or do on their own free
will,'' a
            government statement said. 

            ``But we do not wish to see anybody's life go wasted for no
good
            reason and that is the reason why we have taken this timely
course of
            action,'' it added. 

            Diplomats and analysts welcomed the defusing of the standoff
but said
            they were waiting to see if the junta might take new action
to restrict
            her future movements. 

            ``I think she and the party may have finally realised that
there was little
            to be gained from this (protest), she was also probably
tired after the
            car sit-in for so many days,'' said a Yangon-based diplomat. 

            ``It also could have been her plan to protest until the
ASEAN meeting
            with its dialogue partners in Manila ended. But more
importantly it will
            be interesting to see whether after this, the government
will restrict her
            movements,'' he said. 

            Suu Kyi's protest generated world attention as it took place
during
            meetings of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
foreign
            ministers and the grouping's dialogue partners in Manila,
which ended
            on Wednesday. 

            The government said she was stopped because she did not have
her
            security team with her and it was concerned she might be
harmed by
            anti-government elements. 

            The government has also accused Suu Kyi of trying to foment
dissent
            ahead of the planned reopening next month of universities
and other
            institutions closed in December 1996 due to student unrest. 

            Tensions between the junta and the NLD escalated recently
after Suu
            Kyi urged the government to convene by August 21 a
parliament
            comprising members elected in May 1990. The NLD swept that
poll
            but the military ignored the result. 

            The Alternative ASEAN Network, a human rights group critical
of the
            Myanmar junta, welcomed Suu Kyi's return home and said she
had
            made her point to the world about the military's curbs on
her and the
            NLD's movements and activities. 

            ``We are very relieved that for the sake of her health she
has come
            back. We think it is unacceptable that elected
representatives in
            Burma (Myanmar) are not allowed freedom of movement,'' said
the
            group's co-ordinator Debbie Stothard. 

            ``The point has been made. She was representing the
aspirations of
            millions of freedom-loving people in Burma.'' 

            The Network hoped the military would now allow Suu Kyi
greater
            freedom of movement and that international pressure on the
junta
            would inspire it to resume dialogue with Suu Kyi and the
opposition.