Global pressure on Burma seen conti

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Subject: Global pressure on Burma seen continuing

    By Deborah Charles
     RANGOON, Burma (Reuter) - International pressure on Burma's military government to
return the country to democracy will continue even though it has freed opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi from house arrest, diplomats said Thursday.
     Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, known by the acronyn SLORC,
unexpectedly and unconditionally released the 50-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winner
Monday after six years of detention.
     "We don't want to give them too much credit," a Rangoon-based diplomat told Reuters.
"We need to maintain pressure on them to continue the dialogue."
     Another diplomat said international pressure should continue to be applied on SLORC
because it appeared there was still a long way to go for democracy's return to Burma.
     "I don't think anyone assumes this is the end of the line," he said. "I think people are
waiting, and the sentiment is still of cautious optimism, with 'cautious' being the key."
     Diplomats and political analysts said SLORC must have felt confident enough about
Burma's internal stability to release Aung San Suu Kyi.
     She was put under arrest in July 1989 at her lakeside Rangoon home for "endangering the
state" by speaking out against the military, which killed and imprisoned thousands while
suppressing a pro-democracy uprising in 1988.
     "They knew there was an internal stability, and if they didn't release her they would risk a
massive international outcry," a diplomat said. "So on the balance between the domestic
and international situation they chose to release her."
     "They felt sure they could be in control," he added.
     The sense of security felt by SLORC about its hold on power was shown the day after
Aung San Suu Kyi was freed. SLORC allowed hundreds of cheering supporters to crowd
around her Rangoon home and let her hold meetings with opposition colleagues.
      But SLORC continues to maintain a domestic news blackout on Aung San Suu Kyi's
release. More than three days after her release, official media had not reported the news.
     Diplomats said the absence of uniformed soldiers or policemen in front of her house after
her release also signaled the government did not fear an uprising.
     "They felt no need to have an armed military presence, which is a sign of their confidence,"
a diplomat said.
     Foreign governments must continue to urge the military leaders to hold a dialogue, as
promised, with Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders to foster democracy, the
diplomats said.
     Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday the opinion of the international community was
important and should not be ignored.
      "The opinion of other countries, of the international community, does matter, and I don't
think anybody with any sense can really ignore it," she said.
     While democracy was on its way to Burma, supporters should not expect too much to
happen quickly, she warned.
     Aung San Suu Kyi also urged foreign investors lining up to invest in resource-rich Burma to
study the situation carefully before deciding whether the time was right.
     "I want to study the situation much more carefully before I say whether I truly believed that
this is the right time for investments in Burma," she told reporters.
     Diplomats said it was now up to SLORC to take issues at hand further.
     "I think the ball is in SLORC's court. But it's vital that the SLORC is flexible, because she
says she is willing to compromise, but they must also be willing to," a diplomat said. "It
depends on how much they want reconciliation."
     Most governments have said they will watch how developments unfold and take their cues
from Aung San Suu Kyi before deciding whether to resume or bolster relations with Burma.
  REUTER