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Detained Activist Sends Letter Home



Detained Activist Sends Letter Home
By Josh Rolnick
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, August 12, 1998; 4:06 a.m. EDT


TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A few weeks ago, 19-year-old Michele Keegan was
living in New Jersey and waiting tables while on summer break from American
University. Now she is among 18 activists, six of them Americans, being
detained by Myanmar's military government for handing out pro-democracy
leaflets. Pro-democracy activists phoned Keegan's mother, Callie, early
Monday to tell about her daughter's plight in the Southeast Asian country
formerly known as Burma. "As a mom I'm very, very scared and I need to see
her face in America now,'' a tearful Mrs. Keegan said Tuesday. 

In a letter relayed by the U.S. embassy in Myanmar, Keegan apologized to
"my mommy and family" for "this huge inconvenience in your lives. I know it
is tearing everyone up. But please do not be scared for me. I am not
afraid." The note expressed concern for her sick dog, Mrs. Keegan said, and
tried to reassure her family: "Absolutely no lie, I am OK. I'm getting food
and a place to sleep and no one has hurt me."  Mrs. Keegan said she's been
told her daughter is the one keeping up the spirits of the group, which
also includes three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians, two
Philippine citizens and an Australian. "I'm remembering all those songs
from Brownies,'' the letter said. "I knew 
they'd come in useful some day." Myanmar authorities have said the 18 were
being interrogated to determine whether they should be charged with any
crime. They were apprehended Sunday after distributing leaflets urging
people to remember an Aug. 8, 1988, uprising against military rule that
resulted in a change of leaders but was eventually crushed. An estimated
3,000 people died.  Keegan's congressman, Republican Christopher Smith,
planned to leave today for Myanmar in hopes of negotiating Keegan's
release. Keegan's father, Thomas, a police detective, said he's 
concerned that the military dictatorship will want to hold his daughter and
the others for a long time to deter other activists. Michele joined the
``Free Burma Coalition'' last year at the American University in
Washington, D.C., and helped raise funds and organize this summer's trip to
Myanmar. Mrs. Keegan said her daughter had never been out of the country
before she left July 28. She told her mother she was going to Thailand
because Mrs. Keegan didn't want her to go to Myanmar. "I thought she was
intelligent and down to earth enough not to do something like this," Mrs.
Keegan said. "But I believe that her heart was a little more strong."
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Myanmar Pro-Democracy Chief Blocked 
Wednesday, August 12, 1998; 5:20 a.m. EDT

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was
blocked today when she left her home to meet members of her political party
outside the capital, defying the country's military regime. Suu Kyi, head
of the National League for Democracy, was headed for Bassein, 100 miles
west of Yangon, when she was stopped at the same roadblock where she was
held up for six days last month, sources in Myanmar's government and her
party said. Authorities ended that standoff, 19 miles west of the capital,
on July 29 when they seized her car, forcibly restrained her and drove her
back to her home. Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, is largely
confined to her home and has little political maneuvering room. She has
recently stepped up challenges to the government of Myanmar, also known as
Burma. During the previous standoff, she had taken food and water with her,
but supplies eventually ran out. The authorities refused to let her buy
fresh supplies and prevented her party members and doctors from giving her
food and water and she suffered high fever and dehydration, her party
members have said. On today's trip, Suu Kyi was accompanied by Hla Pe, a
75-year-old member of her party's central executive committee, and one or
two drivers. In apparent preparation for another standoff, she was
traveling in a friend's van instead of the Toyota sedan she had used on
previous trips. The van would allow more comfort for an extended stay and
be able to carry more food and water. The 
foray was her fourth attempt in two months to drive outside Yangon. 

The military has allowed Suu Kyi to travel outside Yangon only once -- to
visit a Buddhist monk -- since releasing her from six years of formal house
arrest in July 1995. Suu Kyi recently gave the military an Aug. 21 deadline
to seat the parliament elected in a 1990 general election. The military,
which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, allowed the election to go forward but
refused to honor the result when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.
Since September 1996, the government has installed police checkpoints near
Suu Kyi's lakeside compound, refusing journalists entry and restricting
access by diplomats and her party members. U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright said after Suu Kyi's last standoff that the United
States would hold the government directly responsible for her welfare. 

On Saturday, Myanmar marked the 10th anniversary of a nationwide uprising
against military rule. It was eventually crushed by troops. An estimated
3,000 people died. 

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