[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

NEWS - Myanmar Media Attack Suu Kyi



Myanmar Media Attack Suu Kyi, next Moves Awaited

            Reuters
            31-JUL-98

            YANGON, July 31 (Reuters)- The Myanmar government launched a
media attack on
            opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday as she
recuperated in Yangon after
            her six-day car sit-in protest was forcibly ended by the
military. 

            The New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused Suu Kyi, the
daughter of
            independence leader Aung San, of being paid by Britain and
the United States to
            destroy Myanmar with her campaigns. 

            Have the people noticed that the daughter of Thakin Aung San
is doing paid jobs as
            assigned by the British and the U.S.?, it said in a
front-page commentary entitled
            Hands off our nation. 

            It is totally unacceptable to us. We cannot allow the entire
people to be enslaved. 

            A weary Suu Kyi sent word to a news conference held by her
National League for
            Democracy (NLD) party on Thursday that she would go out
again as soon as she
            was well enough o travel. 

            Suu Kyi was forcibly removed from her car on Wednesday night
by security men at
            a bridge near a village in the outskirts of Yangon and sent
back to her home in
            Yangon. 

            The NLD said that her abduction was a criminal act. 

            The Nobel peace prize winner had been blocked at the bridge
last Friday and
            prevented from going to the western township of Pathein to
meet supporters. 

            But she refused to budge from the spot, stirring world
attention to her plight and
            condemnation of the military by leading nations, including
the United States. 

            U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Thursday
that the governments
            use of force on Suu Kyi was an unacceptable violation of her
human rights. 

            The government has said it acted on her doctors advice. 

            Diplomats and analysts said they were waiting for her next
move, although some
            believed that the military would tighten control over her
movements after the latest
            incident. 

            They said that with the approach of the tenth anniversary of
the August 8 1988
            pro-democracy student uprising which the military crushed,
the government would
            tighten the net around Suu Kyi. 

            They said they also expected tension to escalate in advance
of the August 21
            deadline set by the NLD for convening of a parliament
comprising elected
            representatives from the May 1990 election, which the NLD
swept but was ignored
            by the military, they added. 

            The government has rejected the demand to convene parliament
and said that the
            drafting of a new national constitution, which has already
been delayed for some
            time, must be completed first. 

            The military will be extra cautious ahead of these two
dates. After this latest
            protest, they will be more careful, but so far in Yangon the
security and situation
            seems to be normal, said one Yangon-based diplomat. 

            Another diplomat said: Suu Kyi will keep momentum as long as
the government
            rejects her call to convene parliament. I think she may rest
for some weeks in her
            house before making another moves. 

            The commentary in the state media said that the British
Broadcasting Corporation
            (BBC) from Britain is giving signals to Myanmar people to
start nation-wide riots and
            uprisings. 

            The people of Myanmar are no longer naive these days. They
are well aware of the
            fact that commodity prices will skyrocket once riots break
out, it said. 

            Hence nothing will happen on 8-8-98, it added. 

            Separately, the powerful Secretary One of the ruling State
Peace and Development
            Council (SPDC), Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, flayed the
opposition and foreign
            media for what he said was false news being floated to
create disturbances in
            Myanmar. 

            Some foreign news agencies are floating false news on
Myanmar everyday. Internal
            destructive elements with evil will are creating
confrontations, passing false news on
            Myanmar to foreign news agencies, he said.