BBC-Foreign diplomats meet Burma op

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Wednesday, September 2, 1998 Published at 17:44 GMT 18:44 UK 

Foreign diplomats meet Burma opposition 

Foreign diplomats in Rangoon have met the leader of the National League for
Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, and several members of her executive committee
to discuss the party's plans to convene the parliament elected in 1990, in
defiance of Burma's military junta. 

The meeting took place as student protests in the capital's Institute of
Technology came to an end. 

And in a rare interview with the BBC, a spokesman for Burma's military
government said the military authorities refuse to rule out imprisoning
Aung San Suu Kyi if she goes ahead with her plans to create a people's
parliament.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent long periods under house arrest, said
members of her National League for Democracy party were prepared to go to
go to jail in their attempts to restore civilian rule in Burma. 

Senior government spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Hla Min, said the NLD's
plans could derail national security. 

"We could have a lot of problems on our hands. That leaves the government
with not much choice but to prevent the from NLD taking that stance, " the
colonel said. 

Hla Min said that the government found the NLD's policies "detrimental to
the interests of the man on the streets". 

The overwhelming majority of people in Myanmar are not obsessed with
politics. 

"They don't see the periodical right to vote and the chance to express
their political desires openly and freely as the number one thing in this
country. That will probably come when we are at a more developed stage," he
said. 

Last month, Lt-General Khin Nyunt, one of the government's most senior
officers, described the NLD as "obstructionists with evil intentions". 

Student protest ends 

The biggest display of discontent with the military government in recent
years - a 500-strong student sit-in protest at Rangoon's Institute of
Technology - has ended peacefully. 

The demonstration came after last month's street protest against
authorities, the first that Burma has seen in two years. 

It is reported that there were no signs of police attempting to break up
the sit-in, but senior teaching staff were seen negotiating with the
students. 

Last month police detained a number of students after breaking up a
pro-democracy rally held by up to 1,000 students. 

The demonstration followed the end of a 13-day roadside protest by the
opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, against the military government's
restrictions on her movements.