[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Aung San Suu Kyi in seventh day of



Aung San Suu Kyi in seventh day of deadlock with junta as deadline looms

       Tue 18 Aug 98 - 05:02 GMT 

       YANGON, Aug 18 (AFP) - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Yangon
Tuesday began the seventh day of a
       roadside stand-off with the military as the deadline she has set for
the junta to convene parliament approached. 

       Diplomats and residents said the capital was calm but reported
widespread rumours of unrest on Friday, the
       deadline the Nobel peace prizewinner has set for the meeting of the
parliament elected in 1990.

       The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) expressed concern
about Aung San Suu Kyi's health and
       asked that she be examined by her doctor.

       "Their food is running low and this could adversely effect her health,"
the party said in a statement late Monday. It
       added it had asked authorities to let Aung San Suu Kyi's personal
doctor visit her but had received no response.

       The party had also demanded the release of two NLD supporters -- Thein
Oo and Ohn Hla -- whom it said were
       detained when they tried to visit the site of the stand-off on a small
bridge linking a highway to rice paddies 25
       kilometres (15 miles) from Yangon. It gave no further details of the
detentions.

       Aung San Suu Kyi, along with two drivers and an NLD official, was
blocked by authorities last Wednesday as she
       tried to travel to meet supporters outside Yangon. It was her fourth
such failed bid to visit provincial supporters in
       little over a month. 

       The junta has played down the latest stand-off as a "camping"
expedition and has repeatedly said it is doing all it
       can to ensure her welfare. The NLD held the junta responsible for Aung
San Suu Kyi falling ill following the last
       such confrontation, which ended after six days on July 29 when she was
forcibly driven back to Yangon.

       Officials have said she has been provided with food, a mobile bathroom
and even "a beach umbrella" and "garden
       chairs," as well as reading material, a cassette player and tapes by
Michael Jackson and Madonna to help her pass
       the time.

       "She knows she can't go forward," said one Western diplomat.

       "So her only options are to stay put or go home. I would expect she
would return home before August 21 because the
       deadline will lose a lot of its impact if she isn't even there."

       Analysts said there was little chance of the ultimatum leading to
serious confrontation. Some form of limited protest
       by her NLD was seen as the most likely scenario if the junta, as is
widely expected, simply ignores the deadline. 

       "I think we might see some form of protest by the NLD but that could
just be a meeting at her house," said an Asian
       envoy.

       The NLD-led opposition won the 1990 polls by a landslide but the junta
has refused to give up power.

       The junta Tuesday said it had closed all schools because some of them
were being used as examination centres for
       university students.

       The exams for some, but not all, university students are to be the
first since campuses were closed following unrest
       in December 1996.

       The schools were closed without notice Monday and it was unclear why
even those not to be used for examinations
       were shut, residents said.

       But a junta spokesman said: "The education ministry decided that for
all teh schools to be able to run on the same
       timetable they should all be closed together and reopen at the same
time after the exams are finished.

       "They will all make up for the loss by putting in extra school time."

       The exams are to be held at certain schools and other facilities across
the country in what diplomats said was a bid
       to avoid students gathering at campuses or travelling to Yangon.

       "Not every school is a test centre," another foreign diplomat said.
"The word is they are not going to open till
       mid-next week."

                                                                              
          ©AFP 1998


____________________________________________________________________
More than just email--Get your FREE Netscape WebMail account today at http://home.netscape.com/netcenter/mail