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Newswire (r)



Burma's Suu Kyi says military restricting her
    RANGOON, March 16 (Reuter) - Burmese dissident leader Aung
San Suu Kyi said on Saturday the military government was trying
to prevent her from making contact with the general public
because it lacked confidence.
    Suu Kyi said the government stopped her from travelling to
the central Burmese city of Mandalay last Wednesday, dismissing
an official explanation that she was forced to cancel her trip
because the train coach she was booked on had a mechanical
problem.
    "To speak frankly, they (the government) did that because
they don't want me to be in touch with the people," she said in
a regular address to crowds at the gates of her Rangoon home.
    "There's no reason to prevent someone being in touch with
the people if they (the government) are confident," she said.
    Suu Kyi was freed from six years' house arrest in July.
Authorities said at the time she was being freed
unconditionally.
    The democracy leader and three senior colleagues from her
National League for Democracy (NLD) party were booked to travel
to Mandalay by train to attend the trial of of several of her
supporters, all entertainers arrested by the military after
giving a performance at her house in January.
    Just before she arrived at Rangoon station, officials there
said the coach she and her colleagues were booked on had a
mechanical problem and had to be detatched from the rest of the
train.
    "They have the chance to be in touch with the people every
day, why can't they give others equal opportunity?" she said.
    As well as hoping to attend the trial of her supporters, who
were apparently arrested because they poked fun at the
government during their January performance, Suu Kyi had planned
to visit NLD members in the city, one of her aides said. She has
yet to say if she will try to make the trip again.
    Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest in 1989 for
"endangering the state" after emerging as Burma's most popular
democracy leader during an uprising against military rule the
previous year.
    The daughter of the architect of Burma's independence from
Britain, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her
non-violent campaign for democracy.
    Since her release in July she has made repeated calls for
dialogue with the government on political reform but the
generals have not responded.