SCMP-Military, opposition meet as d

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

South China Morning Post
Wednesday  August 19  1998

 
Military, opposition meet as dissident waits 

BURMA by Reuters in Rangoon 
Senior leaders of the military Government and the pro-democracy opposition
met yesterday for the first time for more than a year.

The head of Burma's military intelligence arm, Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt, and Aung Shwe, the chairman of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD), met for 45 minutes, government officials said.

The meeting came as the government-run press lashed out at foreign
governments and news organisations worldwide, accusing them of collusion in
a week-old roadside protest by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, whose NLD was branded "No 1 Enemy" by newspapers on
Monday, was stuck in a mini-van on a country bridge for a seventh day,
having been prevented from driving to see supporters in western Burma.

An NLD statement said her two personal physicians visited her yesterday
afternoon with government permission. The statement gave no details about
her health, but said she would have to be seen by doctors daily.

Diplomats say the protest has highlighted her lack of freedom of movement
and her campaign for the Government to recognise the results of a general
election eight years ago which her party won by a landslide.

The NLD wants Parliament to be called by Friday.

An article published in three government-run newspapers yesterday accused
foreign broadcasters, including the Voice of America, the BBC and Radio
Free Asia, of interfering in Burma's internal affairs by "profusely
advocating the demand of the lady".

It said foreign journalists and diplomats had colluded with the NLD to
publicise the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate's latest protest.

The exiled All Burma Students' Democratic Front, meanwhile, said the
Government had sentenced two NLD members to seven years in jail for handing
out pro-democracy leaflets - the same offence for which 18 foreigners were
tried and deported last week.