Reuters : UN help sought on Myanmar (r)

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

UN help sought on Myanmar govt, Suu Kyi deadlock 
10:02 a.m. Jul 31, 1998 Eastern 

YANGON, July 31 (Reuters) - The United States and Australia asked U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday to push Myanmar's military to begin
a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as state media accused
her of being a trouble-making foreign agent. 

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Reuters that the two
countries had asked Kofi Annan to personally intervene in Myanmar after the
military forcibly ended a sit-in protest by Suu Kyi. 

Albright said she and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had
``urged'' Annan to become ``personally involved'' in the effort to persuade
the country's military leaders to open a dialogue with Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy party. 

Annan had agreed to ``take a very careful look'' at the proposal and talk
with the two ministers again shortly, she added. ``We think increasing
international pressure...and our pushing for a dialogue is a way to
proceed,'' she said. 

A government statement said Myanmar would not be ready to meet Suu Kyi's
demand for freedom to exercise political rights until the unity of the 135
ethnic groups in the nation became stronger and people's basic needs were
met. 

``It is unrealistic for other nations to force Myanmar to be at par with
them in giving their citizens political rights...,'' the statement obtained
by Reuters added. 

In Yangon, The New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused Suu Kyi of being paid
by Britain and the United States to destroy the country with her campaigns.


``Have the people noticed that the daughter of (independence leader) 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.'' 

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 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. 

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 to travel. 

The NLD said that her abduction was a criminal act but the government has
said it acted on her doctor's 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 have completely sealed off entry to University Avenue (where Suu Kyi
lives) which was only partially closed before,'' said a Yangon-based
diplomat. 

Witnesses said earlier on Friday that about 100 Suu Kyi supporters had gone
to University Avenue and sought permission at a check point to visit her.
But security men refused permission and they later left the area. 

Although there was speculation that the military had increased security
presence in the capital, witnesses and some diplomats said Yangon streets
appeared normal. 

``But we heard that barricades have been placed on sides of streets away
from public eye for use in emergency,'' another diplomat said. 

Diplomats 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. 

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. 

``We don't think anything untoward will happen, but the military is
cautious and will take steps to maintain order,'' said a 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, scolded the
opposition and foreign media for what he said was false news being floated
to create disturbances in Myanmar.