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AP-Dow Jones: Suu Kyi Blasts Regime



Subject: AP-Dow Jones: Suu Kyi Blasts Regime For Forced Rallies

Burma's Suu Kyi Blasts Regime For Forced Rallies
 
   RANGOON (AP-Dow Jones)--Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi =
accused
the military regime Sunday of forcing tens of thousands of people to atte=
nd
rallies intended to counter perceptions of swelling support for her movem=
ent. 
   Rain limited the crowd outside Suu Kyi's home for her weekly address =
to
6,000. That's less than the 10,000 who showed up May 26 - the opening =
day of
the first opposition congress in six years - but still more than twice =
the
usual number. 
   'Genuine people's rallies should be ones in which people attend of =
their own
free will,' Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, told the crowd=
 . 
   'Like this one?' shouted one voice in the crowd. 
   'Like this one,' Suu Kyi answered to cheers. 
   The governing State Law and Order Restoration Council staged rallies =
last
week, gathering tens of thousands of people to denounce Suu Kyi and her
supporters as puppets of foreigners bent on colonizing Burma. 
   But some people who attended said they were ordered to go or pay fines=
, and
the crowds looked mostly glum. 
   Suu Kyi pulled off her biggest political victory since her release =
from six
years of house arrest last July by going ahead with the congress. Authori=
ties
arrested 262 pro-democracy activists in an effort to prevent it. 
   The regime began freeing the detainees Friday. Opposition leaders said=
 Sunday
that about half had checked in with Suu Kyi's headquarters, but it was =
unclear
what had happened to the rest. 
   Suu Kyi said Saturday that more than 20 had been sent to a prison know=
n for
torturing inmates and were expected to face long prison terms on charges =
of
violating national security rules. 
   The regime launched fresh attacks Sunday on Suu Kyi and her supporters=
 . The
state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused them of blocking investm=
ent
and said that anyone thinking the armed forces would surrender power 'mus=
t be
an idiot.' 
   The 18 delegates who managed to elude arrest and attend the congress =
adopted
resolutions calling for the army, which has ruled since 1962, to turn =
over
power to a civilian Parliament elected in 1990 but never allowed to conve=
ne. 
   The conference marked the sixth anniversary of the elections, in which
opposition candidates won 392 of 485 elected seats. The meeting was to =
bring
together those candidates not already killed, jailed or driven into exile=
 . 
   (END) AP-DOW JONES NEWS 02-06-96
   2322GMT