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AP-Myanmar Reluctant To Issue Visa



Thursday March 18 6:07 AM ET
Myanmar Reluctant To Issue Visa

By GRANT PECK Associated Press Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar indicated reluctance today to grant a visa
request by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's British husband, who is
suffering from prostate cancer and seeking to visit his wife.

In a news release, the government expressed ``great sadness' over the
illness of Michael Aris. It said it was ``reviewing'' his visa request.

Aris has not been granted a visa in three years. Suu Kyi, feared and
despised by Myanmar's military government, has declined to leave the country
for fear she would not be allowed to return.

The government statement described Aris's condition as ``extremely grave''
and said its health authorities were surprised that he would try to make
such a trip.

``To undertake such a trip ... would appear to be both irresponsible and
inhumane and the government is reluctant to encourage or endorse such an
action,'' it said.

It suggested that Suu Kyi, ``who is in perfect health,'' travel to England
``to respond to her husband's dying wish to see her.''

``She has so far refused to go,'' it said.

The military regime considers Suu Kyi, an outspoken critic of its rule, a
disruptive force, and has frequently suggested that she leave the country.

In the past year the state-controlled press has mounted a major campaign
calling for the 1991 Nobel peace prize winner to be deported. Their stories
claim that she holds British citizenship - she lived in England for many
years - but both she and the British government deny this.

Tin Oo, vice chairman of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said he
was unsure of Aris's condition, but understood that he was not bedridden
because he regularly traveled to a hospital for treatment.

He said Aris and Suu Kyi, who have been married 27 years and have two adult
sons, talk once a week by telephone.

Tin Oo said Suu Kyi was adamant that the matter should not be exploited by
any side for political gain, and said he was hopeful that the government
would grant the visa on humanitarian grounds.

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, last month
told Yangon-based journalists of the situation and said some foreign
embassies had lobbied for the visa to be granted.


Suu Kyi's husband has not been allowed to visit her in Myanmar, also called
Burma, since the 1996 Christmas season. The ban was apparently in
retaliation for his carrying out a public statement from his wife.

The military regime took power in 1988 after violently suppressing
pro-democracy demonstrations. It refused to turn over power to Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy after the party won a landslide victory in a
1990 general election.