AP : Suu Kyi Seeks Dialogue With My

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

AUGUST 04, 06:30 EDT
Suu Kyi Seeks Dialogue With Myanmar 


BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) ? Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is recovering from
her roadside standoff with Myanmar military authorities and said she still
is seeking dialogue with the government. 

U.S. Charge d'Affaires Kent Weideman, the top U.S. envoy in Myanmar,
visited Suu Kyi on Sunday and was allowed to enter her home after only
``minimal delays'' from security forces, he said in a memo circulated to
diplomats in the capital, Yangon. 

The memo said Suu Kyi, 53, was ``recuperating well from her encounter and
indicated that she intends to continue to assert her rights in order to
achieve her objective of dialogue with the government.'' 

Weideman said he visited Suu Kyi without prior warning to establish the
right of diplomats to see her when they choose. 

Suu Kyi ``indicated to me that she would welcome the visit of other
diplomatic missions to firmly establish the right of diplomats to meet with
her,'' the memo said. 

The Associated Press was shown a copy of the memo by a diplomat who
received it. The U.S. Embassy confirmed its authenticity. 

State-controlled newspapers ran an opinion piece today saying that Suu Kyi
was conspiring with Western media and unspecified countries. 

``It is obvious that she is trying to instigate unrest and cause internal
instability to create the recurrence of an anarchistic uprising for the
second time,'' said the article, believed to reflect the views of at least
part of the government. 

``Any external and internal danger threatening the establishment of a
peaceful and prosperous state will be annihilated,'' it said. 

The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, was heavily criticized by
the United States, the European Union and many other countries for last
week's standoff with Suu Kyi on a road outside Yangon. 

The government, which seldom allows her to leave her home and never lets
her outside the capital, stopped her car and refused to allow her to travel
to another city, Bassein, to meet party supporters. She spurned orders to
go back home. 

After six days, with neither side budging and Suu Kyi running low on food
and water, authorities removed her driver and two fellow passengers, held
her down and drove her back to Yangon, her National League for Democracy
party said. 

The military, which has ruled the country since 1962, said Suu Kyi's action
was intended to embarrass Myanmar during a foreign ministers conference of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 

The standoff comes amid a period of anniversaries marking 10 years since
the army killed thousands of people to quell antigovernment protests. Suu
Kyi, daughter of independence hero Aung San, rose to the vanguard of the
pro-democracy movement during the unrest. 

Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent promotion of
democracy. 

She has spent most of the past decade under house arrest or closely
confined to her home. In 1990, the National League for Democracy
overwhelmingly won elections, but the military never allowed the new
parliament to convene. 

Suu Kyi and the NLD have set a deadline of Aug. 21 for the ruling State
Peace and Development Council to finally convene the legislature. They have
no means to enforce the demand, though Yangon is edgy with anticipation of
unrest.