NEWS - Myanmar Rulers Close off mos

[TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar Rulers Close off most Sacred Shrine

            Reuters
            26-AUG-98

            YANGON, Aug 26 (Reuters)- Myanmar's military government
blocked
            off the country's most sacred Buddhist shrine on Wednesday
on the
            10th anniversary of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
maiden
            speech for democracy, witnesses said. 

            Security forces closed all entrances to the Shwedagon
Pagoda, a
            magnificent 100-metre golden stupa in the centre of Yangon
and
            fenced of the surrounding area, they said. 

            Diplomats in the capital said the aim was apparently to
prevent
            attempts to commemorate the 1988 uprising for democracy,
which the
            country's military rulers crushed at a cost of several
thousand lives,
            according to most independent estimates. 

            Diplomats said the official explanation given for closing
the legendary
            pagoda was ``special cleaning.'' Security policemen armed
with
            batons were stationed at each of its four main gates. 

            On August 26, 1988, some 700,000 people rallied at the
Shwedagon
            to hear a speech by Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's
assassinated
            independence hero Aung San. 

            Suu Kyi, who had returned to Myanmar to nurse her dying
mother and
            had no political track record, called the democracy uprising
Myanmar's
            ``second struggle for independence.'' She went on to become
the
            leader of the movement and was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace
            Prize. 

            Her National League for Democracy won 1990 general elections
by a
            landslide, but the military ignored the results. It has
since tried to grind
            down the opposition through a long campaign of arrests and
            intimidation, diplomats and dissidents say. 

            But in recent weeks the opposition has become increasing
assertive
            and last week vowed to call a ``People's Parliament'' as the
military
            had ignored its demand to do so. 

            On Tuesday, authorities stationed riot police around the
capital to
            guard against a repeat of protests by university students on
Monday,
            the first such street demonstrations in more than a year. 

            The protests came the same day as Suu Kyi ended a 13-day
roadside
            protest against restrictions on her movements. 

            An NLD source said Suu Kyi was being treated by her doctors
and her
            health was improving after the exhausting standoff. 

            Diplomats said the NLD was likely to wait for Suu Kyi's
recovery
            before proceeding with its pledge to call parliament,
something the
            government has said would be against the law. 

            On Tuesday the government, which calls itself the State
Peace and
            Development Council (SPDC), told foreign military attaches
it would
            not allow the opposition to form a parliament or enter talks
with Suu
            Kyi, a diplomat said. 

            It argued that Suu Kyi, the NLD general secretary, and Tin
Oo, the
            party's vice chairman, had been officially stripped of their
posts in
            1990, he said. 

            The NLD held its first meeting with senior members of the
government
            eight days ago but said afterwards it was informal and did
not
            constitute a ``dialogue,'' which it said could not take
place without Suu
            Kyi. 

            The ruling generals have long refused to talk to Suu Kyi,
who has been
            the biggest thorn in their side since they took power. 

            State newspapers said Home Affairs Minister Tin Hlaing had
warned
            the NLD on Monday to ``avoid acts which will undermine
stability and
            peace and the rule of law.''