Moslem rebels hail Suu Kyi's releas

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Subject: Moslem rebels hail Suu Kyi's release

    CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, July 13 (Reuter) - Burmese Moslem guerrillas fighting for a
homeland in the western province of Arakan said on Thursday the release of jailed
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would pave the way for national reconciliation.
     A statement issued by the Rohingya National Alliance (RNA), and obtained by Reuters in
Chittagong, said Suu Kyi's release earlier this week would "help solve outstanding problems
in Burma."
     The RNA thanked the international community for efforts to free Suu Kyi and hoped it would
continue to pressure the Rangoon regime to restore democracy.
     The RNA was formed recently by merging two rival Moslem rebel groups -- the Rohingya
Solidarity Organisation (RSO) and the Arakan Rohingya Islamic Front (ARIF) -- which fought
the Burmese army for several years.
     A joint declaration signed by RSO chief Mohammad Yunus and ARIF leader Nurul Islam
after the merger said "from now on the RNA is the sole legitimate representative of the
Rohingya Moslems in Arakan.
     "The RNA will continue to struggle to achieve its goal...and seeks the support of the
international community, particularly the Moslem countries and human rights organisations."
     More than 50,000 Rohingyas, as the Arakani Moslems are called, are still huddled in
refugee camps in Bangladesh, although nearly 200,000 others, who fled across the border in
1992 to escape alleged military persecution, have been repatriated over the years.
  REUTER