NEWS - Myanmar Signals Suu Kyi won'

[TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Myanmar Signals Suu Kyi won't Be Held, Deported

            Reuters
            11-SEP-98

            BANKGOK, Sept 11 (Reuters)- Myanmar's military rulers have
            signalled they will not deport or arrest opposition leader
Aung San Suu
            Kyi, an Asian diplomat based in Yangon said on Friday. 

            But the military has indicated it would use all other means
available to
            block her National League for Democracy (NLD) party's plans
to hold
            a "People's Parliament" meeting in the capital in the near
future, he
            told Reuters. 

            The diplomat, who declined to be identified, was told of
these
            strategies by officials of the ruling military State Peace
and
            Development Council (SPDC) during regular bilateral meetings
this
            week. 

            The diplomat said the current detention of more than 328 NLD
            members since Sunday, including 71 elected representatives,
            reflected a strategy by the SPDC to avoid direct
confrontation with her.

            "They (SPDC) said they will not arrest or deport her (Suu
Kyi) but at
            the same time they cannot allow her to organise the People's
            Parliament meeting because it is against the law," said the
diplomat. 

            Suu Kyi and her NLD party have countered that convening such
a
            parliament was not against the law and were said by some
opposition
            sources to have tentatively planned the parliament meeting
for
            September 18. 

            The NLD said on Friday 702 of its members had been detained
by the
            military government since May 27, the day Suu Kyi suggested
at a
            party congress a People's Parliament be convened comprising
            representatives elected in a May 1990 election. The NLD
swept that
            poll but the military ignored the result. 

            The NLD said in a statement that of the total detained in
past months,
            194 were elected representatives and 508 party members from
            various areas and levels. 

            The diplomat said the SPDC had hinted the detained NLD
members
            would be held until after the ASEAN foreign ministers
completed their
            special meeting in New York on September 23-24. 

            Myanmar is part of the nine-member Association of South East
Asian
            Nations. 

            The SPDC feared Suu Kyi and her supporters would take the
            opportunity to publicise the plight of Myanmar's opposition
            internationally, the diplomat added. 

            "Suu Kyi had lunch with the Philippines ambassador yesterday
and the
            SPDC suspects that she might have onpassed some kind of
message
            to ASEAN," he said. 

            Suu Kyi drew global attention last month and in July when
she
            launched protracted car sit-in protests near Yangon against
the
            military's curbs on her trips to meet supporters. 

            One of her protests coincided with an ASEAN ministerial
meeting that
            was being held in Manila in July and drew heavy flak from
            representatives from Western nations, particularly the
United States. 

            Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and her NLD have
been
            locked in a prolonged political standoff over the road to
democracy for
            Myanmar. 

            Articles in the state-owned media have advocated that Suu
Kyi, who is
            married to a British academic, be deported for her
anti-government
            stance and links to Western supporters. 

            But the SPDC clarified this week that views expressed in the
media
            were not those of the government's and it had no plans to
deport her. 

            The SPDC has also flatly rejected her demand for the
convening of a
            parliament of elected representatives from the 1990
election, saying
            that a new national constitution must be drawn up first
before
            parliament is assembled. 

            But a government-appointed national convention of handpicked
            delegates that was due to draw up the charter has not met
since 1996.
            The NLD pulled out of the convention in late 1995 and has
accused the
            government of lying on the drawing up of the charter.