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AP Breaking News



Myanmar Rejects U.N. Envoy Proposal 
Thursday, August 13, 1998; 6:41 p.m. EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Myanmar has rejected the U.N. chief's request that a
special envoy be allowed to look into the human rights situation in the
Southeast Asian country, a U.N. spokesman said Thursday. 

In a letter to the government last week, Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked
that Razali Ismail of Malaysia, the former president of the General
Assembly, be allowed to visit Myanmar at the end of the week. 

``The response from the prime minister was polite but stated that there was
no reason for such a rushed visit and that the dialogue that the
secretary-general and the government of Myanmar had maintained since 1994
could continue when the foreign minister of Myanmar is in New York next
month for the General Assembly's general debate,'' said U.N. spokesman Juan
Carlos Brandt. 

``The secretary-general is disappointed by the response,'' he added. 

The United States, among others, had sought Annan's intervention to try to
rally world opinion against the military regime and its treatment of Aung
San Suu Kyi, an opposition party leader and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize. 

Myanmar's military junta blocked Suu Kyi on Wednesday in her fourth attempt
in two months to travel outside the capital to meet with members of her
political party, the National League for Democracy, claiming the journey
was ``unsafe.'' 

In Washington on Thursday, State Department spokesman James Foley said
authorities in Myanmar, also known as Burma, had yet to agree to a U.S.
request for permission to speak with Suu Kyi. 

``In light of the government's abysmal treatment of National League for
Democracy leaders weeks ago, we are gravely concerned about the health and
safety of Aung San Suu Kyi and hold Burmese (Myanmar) authorities
responsible for ensuring her health and welfare,'' Foley said. 

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Myanmar Denounces Democracy Chief 
Thursday, August 13, 1998; 7:58 p.m. EDT

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- State television broadcast several denunciations of
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party Thursday night during
her latest challenge to Myanmar's military regime. 

Earlier, the party expressed fears for Suu Kyi's safety after her van was
moved to a small wooden bridge on the second day of her latest roadside
standoff with the government. 

The military regime blocked Suu Kyi on Wednesday from traveling outside the
capital to meet with members of her party, claiming the journey was
``unsafe.'' 

State TV has not directly reported the confrontation, but has broadcast a
series of reports showing senior officials from several ministries
condemning the National League for Democracy. 

One of them, Deputy Home Minister Brigadier Myint Maung, was shown telling
a meeting of businessmen that the league had stepped up attempts to disrupt
the peaceful condition of the country, and he urged them to understand the
``true situation.'' 

He said her party had taken on a confrontational role since she was
released from six years of house arrest in 1995, and accused the group of
acting with ``neo-colonialists'' and Western media in trying to destabilize
Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

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 had been held up for six days last month. 

Her van presumably was moved to clear traffic, which was backed up for
several miles Wednesday. The bridge, built for ox carts, held Suu Kyi's
smaller car during her standoff at the same checkpoint two weeks ago. 

``It is the responsibility of the government if the bridge breaks under the
heavy weight of the van,'' the party said. 

Suu Kyi appeared ready for a long confrontation to raise pressure before
the Aug. 21 deadline she set for a parliament elected in 1990 to be
convened. Her party overwhelmingly won the election, but the military,
which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, never allowed the parliament to meet. 

Meanwhile, 18 foreign activists arrested for passing out anti-government
leaflets Sunday were reunited in a single police facility, but there was
still no decision on whether they would face trial. 

U.S. Embassy officials were permitted to meet the six American detainees
and described them as being in ``good spirits,'' an embassy spokeswoman
said. The others include three Indonesians, three Malaysians, three Thais,
two Filipinos and an Australian. 

In New York, U.N. spokesman Juan Carlos Brandt said Myanmar has rejected
the U.N. chief's request that an envoy be allowed to look into the human
rights situation in the country. 

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