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SCMP-Latest standoff enters second



South China Morning Post
Thursday  August 13  1998

Burma 
Latest standoff enters second day 
REUTERS in Rangoon 
Updated at 1.53pm:

The military leadership faced increased pressure from inside and outside
the country on Thursday as a roadside standoff between opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and security guards entered its second day. 
Government sources said the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, a member of her
National League for Democracy (NLD) and two drivers were still in their van
at Anyarsu, 32 kilometres southwest of the capital.
The four were stopped by police on Wednesday on their way to see supporters
in Pathein, 190km west of Rangoon. The trip was a repeat of a visit in late
July that led to a six-day standoff.
''She is still at the checkpoint on the road, we hear,'' said one
government source.
International pressure on the ruling military was stepped up as a US
legislator headed for Asia to try to secure the release of 18 foreign
activists detained in Rangoon on Sunday for distributing pro-democracy
leaflets.
Representative Chris Smith, chairman of the House Sub-Committee on
International Operations and Human Rights, flew to the Thai capital,
Bangkok, vowing to ''make every effort'' to get into Burma and help secure
their release.
''The purpose of my trip is to verify the safety and help secure the
release of all 18 detainees,'' he said.
The government has not said if it will prosecute the detainees - six
Americans, an Australian, three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians
and two Filipinos - or release them for deportation.
Government-run newspapers have accused the activists of being part of a
plot to destabilise the country and said the authorities would take
''necessary actions against them.'' 
The government says the legal process is being prolonged because a few
activists are not fully co-operating.