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SCMP : Myanmar blasted for move aga



Myanmar blasted for move against Suu Kyi 
05:31 p.m Jul 30, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 



YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's military said Thursday it had
forcibly ended opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's unusual sit-in protest
on her doctors' advice, drawing sharp international criticism. 



The United States, Britain and France condemned the move, as did Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD). Japan and the European Union earlier
expressed concern over her treatment. 



U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the forcible ending of Suu
Kyi's protest was ``an unacceptable violation of her human rights.'' 



The Myanmar government said it had no choice but to forcibly return Suu Kyi
to her Yangon home late Wednesday because of her own physicians' advice and
the failure of the doctors and top NLD officials 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. 



Security officials stopped Suu Kyi and three associates last Friday in
Anyarsu village outside Yangon as they were traveling to a meeting with NLD
supporters. The officials told the Nobel laureate to return to Yangon, but
she refused and spent six days in her car. 



The government said Suu Kyi had been stopped because she did not have her
security team with her and it feared she might be harmed by anti-government
elements. 



NLD officials told reporters Thursday the military had committed a criminal
act by forcibly ending her protest and the party would consider suing. 



``She (Suu Kyi) told me that she was abducted by force; that two women had
grabbed her arms on either side and pushed her into a car,'' said U Lwin, a
top party official said. 



Suu Kyi was later driven to her Yangon home. 



``She sent word to this news conference that she will go out again as soon
as she becomes well enough to travel,'' he said. 



Albright, speaking in Sydney, said Suu Kyi ``was all of a sudden taken in
her car by a military driver back to Rangoon (Yangon) and thereby forbidden
from exercising a basic human right -- to be able to travel freely in your
own country.'' 



Britain's Foreign Office summoned Myanmar's ambassador to lodge a protest
over Suu Kyi's treatment. 



``I want to make clear that the Burmese regime's interference in Aung San
Suu Kyi's freedom of movement and association is unacceptable,'' Foreign
Secretary Robin Cook said in a statement. 



``This fundamental infringement of her basic human rights can only do harm
to Burma. It is high time the regime recognized the need to open an
immediate dialogue with the NLD,'' Cook said. 



In Paris, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement: ``France is deeply
worried about the situation in the Myanmar Republic. It deplores that the
Myanmar authorities have not responded to calls from the international
community, and notably the European Union, to open dialogue. 



``France renews its call on the Myanmar authorities to revoke restrictive
measures imposed on political leaders, notably Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi... Her
physical safety is of great concern to the international community.'' 



Yangon-based diplomats said Wednesday 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 for her. 



The Yangon spokesman said three top NLD officials tried for nearly two
hours late Wednesday to convince Suu Kyi to end the protest, then left it
up to the government to take action. 



However, NLD chairman Aung Shwe said party officials merely had discussed
how to end the standoff when they went to see Suu Kyi, who was running a
high fever, Wednesday evening. 



Suu Kyi had said she would end her protest if the government released all
party members detained since May 27 and fixed a definite timetable for
dialogue with the NLD. 



``We had originally planned to see the authorities today to discuss our
demands with them,'' he added. ``However, last night they took her here by
force. I think this is a criminal act because she came back against her
will. It's like kidnapping.'' 



Other party officials said Suu Kyi told them the military had not given her
water and she had gathered rainwater in umbrellas for drinking. Food taken
to her by NLD officials was disallowed. 



The government said it had little to gain by ending the standoff. ``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 said in a
statement. 



Diplomats and analysts warned the government might restrict Suu Kyi's
future movements. 



``I think she and the party may have finally realized 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 coincided with the Association of South East Asian
Nations' conference in Manila with its dialogue partners that ended
Wednesday.