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Myanmar authorities block road to o



Myanmar authorities block road to opposition party headquarters
:

AP, Rangoon, 16 September 2000. Military authorities on Saturday
blocked the road to the headquarters of the democratic opposition
led by Aung San Suu Kyi, two days after announcing the easing
of tough restrictions against the party, witnesses said.

Traffic police and plainclothes intelligence officers were manning
road blocks marked by no entry signs on the approaches to the
two-story National League for Democracy office in downtown
Yangon, where the party planned to hold a meeting Saturday
afternoon.

It was not immediately clear if the meeting, to commemorate
the second anniversary of the NLD's Committee Representing
People's Parliament, would be allowed to go ahead.

The CRPP is a proxy parliament formed as a direct challenge
to the military government, which has refused to honor the
NLD's 1990 general election victory.

On Thursday, the government announced it was lifting
restrictions against Suu Kyi and eight other National League
for Democracy leaders who were confined to their homes for
two weeks after Suu Kyi tried to travel outside Yangon for party work.

On Friday, NLD leaders emerged from their homes and reopened
the party headquarters, which were raided Sept. 2 by the authorities.
The government justified its actions by saying it was investigating
alleged NLD links with terrorists.

At the first anniversary commemoration of the CRPP, the road
was cordoned off and diplomats and reporters were blocked
from attending, but NLD leaders and some members were
allowed in and it went ahead.

On Friday, in her first public comments since her confinement,
Suu Kyi appeared determined to maintain political pressure
on the military regime.

She announced her intention to try and travel beyond the
capital within 10 days. She challenged the military authorities,
saying ''Stop us if you dare.''

Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle
for democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma. She was
kept under house arrest from 1989-1995.

An NLD statement issued late Friday said eleven party
members had been arrested this week, despite the
government's announcement Thursday it was easing
restrictions and that the party would be allowed to go
about its daily activities as normal.

Five NLD members from Yangon, including elected
member of parliament Naing Naing, and six others from
the town of Kungyangon, were arrested on Wednesday
and Thursday, it said.

''We strongly condemn the arrests of the NLD members
and demand that they be released immediately,'' the
statement said.

On Friday, NLD Yangon Division chairman Soe Myint
told reporters that fifteen other NLD members upcountry
had been arrested since Sept. 2.

The government has yet to comment on the NLD allegations
of arrests.

The reported arrests and restrictions on NLD leaders came
after a nine-day stand-off between Suu Kyi and the authorities
that began late last month.

She and NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo were blocked Aug. 24 by
security forces as they traveled to a planned NLD meeting in
the countryside. They refused to return to the capital and
camped by their vehicles on the outskirts of the city until
police transported them back to Yangon and confined them to
their residences.

Suu Kyi said Friday she been brought back to Yangon
''by force'' and some of her youth supporters had been beaten
up and handcuffed.

The crackdown drew vehement international criticism, mainly
from the United States and Britain, which accused the regime
of blatantly violating the Myanmar opposition leaders' political rights.
Myanmar accused both countries of meddling in its internal affairs.

Relations between the regime and the NLD, which have been
poor since the party was formed 12 years ago, reached a new
low two years ago when the NLD formed its parliamentary committee
Sept. 16, 1998.

The government declared the 10-member CRPP illegal and
arrested several NLD members and elected representatives.
The regime also stepped up pressure on NLD members to resign
from the party.

In April this year, the secretary of the CRPP Aye Tha Aung,
who represented ethnic minorities on the committee, was
arrested and in June sentenced to 21 years in prison for violating
a publication law and an emergency law.