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Reuters-Annan criticizes Myanmar ov



Subject: Reuters-Annan criticizes Myanmar over Suu Kyi treatment 

Annan criticizes Myanmar over Suu Kyi treatment
08:40 p.m Mar 28, 1999 Eastern
By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, March 28 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday
sent condolences to Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the death
of her husband and expressed dismay at Yangon's military rulers at their
treatment of her.

In a statement, Annan said he was grieved to learn of the death of Dr.
Michael Aris, and ``sends his heartfelt condolences of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and her two sons at this time of irreparable loss.''

Aris, an Oxford University academic in Tibetan studies, died on Saturday in
a London hospital on his 53rd birthday after a bout with prostate cancer. He
was not permitted to visit Suu Kyi, a Nobel Prize laureate, in Myanmar,
during his illness, despite worldwide appeals.

Instead the junta wanted her to travel to England but she feared they would
not let her back into the country.

``The secretary-general is dismayed that, despite efforts with the
authorities in Myanmar, the couple were not able to meet during Dr. Aris'
illness,'' Annan's statement said.

On Sunday, the Myanmar military government said she could attend the funeral
but it did not guarantee she could return.

Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy party won a landslide victory in a
1990 election but was never allowed to take power. The military had seized
office in 1988 after crushing demonstrations.

She was put under six years of house arrest and released in July 1995. She
won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent campaign for democracy.

The United Nations for years has attempted to talk the junta into ending the
stalemate without any success. The government has also turned a deaf ear to
international calls to end its repression of opposition parties and free
jailed students, academics and other intellectuals.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Myanmar, formerly Burma, and the
European Union has suspended aid.

Aris' repeated requests to see his wife in Yangon one last time were turned
down by the government, which instead offered to let Suu Kyi visit Aris in
Britain and then return home -- on condition that she not politicize the
trip.

Suu Kyi rejected the offer, fearing she would not be allowed back into
Myanmar. She has not left the country since 1988.