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NEWS - Unwise for Suu Kyi to Try to
Unwise for Suu Kyi to Try to Leave Yangon Govt
Reuters
05-AUG-98
BANGKOK, Aug 5 (Reuters)- Myanmars miltary government
said on Wednesday it would be very unwise for opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi to try to venture out from her
house in Yangon on Saturday to visit supporters.
Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of an uprising of
pro-democracy supporters on August 8, 1988, that was
suppressed by the army.
Myanmars ruling State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) says several dozen police and civilians died in the
unrest. Opposition groups say thousands were killed.
A government spokesman, speaking to Reuters by telephone
from Yangon, said the authorities did not know what Suu
Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) would try to do
to mark the anniversary, but added that they did not expect
much trouble.
He said it could be dangerous for Suu Kyi to try to travel
to
see her supporters outside the capital.
``I think it would be very unwise,'' said the spokesman.
He said the country had many ``shady groups'' that posed a
threat to the countrys security and to figures like Suu Kyi.
``These people are out to create instability,'' he said.
``They
are only there to create chaos.''
Asked if Suu Kyi would be allowed to leave Yangon to visit
her supporters on Saturday or any other time, he said:
``She will first have to request (permission) and it will be
given serious consideration. But we will have to be very
careful about the places that she goes.''
Suu Kyi has been recovering at her lakeside residence in
Yangon since July 29, when the authorities forcibly ended a
six-day car sit-in protest that drew worldwide attention.
The Nobel laureate had been stopped on a bridge near a
village outside Yangon on July 24 and prevented from
driving to the western township of Pathein to meet
supporters. She was told to return to the capital but
refused
to budge.
She has vowed to try to leave her residence and visit her
supporters again as soon as she has recovered from her last
ordeal, and some diplomats have suggested she might try to
do so on Saturday.
NLD officials have declined to say what the party plans to
mark the anniversary, and exiled Myanmar groups say most
of the protests on Saturday may be outside the country.
``Here in Rangoon (Yangon) it is going be quiet like other
years,'' a Yangon-based diplomat said.
The government spokesman said he did not know what the
NLD was likely to do to mark the anniversary: ``We have to
wait and see. I dont actually know what they are intending
to
do.''
``We are not expecting anything in Yangon on Saturday.
Probably if there is some agitation going on, there may be a
minor, neglibible (incident) here and there, but other than
that we dont expect anything,'' he said.
The government has tightened security around Suu Kyis
house over the last week since the end of the car sit-in but
has allowed supporters and diplomats to visit her after they
have been idenfified and screened.
Suu Kyi, who was released from six years of house arrest in
mid-1995, has demanded the military government convene
by August 21 a parliament of members elected at polls in
May 1990.
The NLD won a landslide victory in that election but the
result was ignored by the miltary. Suu Kyis August 21
deadline also looks certain to be ignored.