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AP: Nichols



VVV2223 5 III 00677 -----
AP- BC-Burma 
 BC-Burma 
 Dead Consul Supported Freedoms Suu Kyi Fights For: Son 
 By ROBERT HORN=
 Associated Press Writer=
   BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ The son of the former Scandinavian
consul who died in Burma's notorious Insein Prison said Tuesday
that his father was jailed for his friendship with pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
   James Leander Nichols, also known as Leo Nichols, died of a
reported stroke Saturday in Rangoon General Hospital after prison
officials found him unconscious in his cell. Human-rights groups
say conditions at the prison are deplorable and torture is common.
   Nichols was sentenced May 21 to three years for illegally
possessing two fax machines and a telephone switchboard, equipment
tightly controlled by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration
Council.
   The sentencing preceded mass arrests of Suu Kyi's supporters
ahead of a defiant congress of her party and helped show the limits
of dissent the junta will allow.
   William Nichols, one of his five children, told The Associated
Press from his home in Australia that his father, 65, had ``died at
the hands of the military dictatorship of Burma.''
   The military warned Nichols' relatives not to attend his funeral
last Sunday, William Nichols said via the Internet. The family
plans a memorial service June 30 in Rangoon ``provided permission
is obtained from the authorities.''
   Nichols, who was of Greek and Burmese ancestry, served as
honorary consul-general until 1978 for Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Finland and Switzerland.
   An honorary consul performs low-level diplomatic duties, like
receiving visa applications, for countries that otherwise might not
have representation. At the time Nichols served, Burma was isolated
from most of the world by an earlier military dictatorship.
   Denmark has complained that Nichols received poor medical care
in prison despite appeals made to free him due to poor health. He
was well known to suffer heart problems and diabetes.
   Joergen Reimers, Denmark's ambassador to Thailand, is scheduled
to arrive Friday in Rangoon to obtain more information on the
death, a Danish Embassy official in Bangkok said.
   William Nichols called his father a ``faithful and devoted
friend'' of Suu Kyi, the 1991 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for
her non-violent promotion of democracy.
   ``Through her, he could see hope for his country and he lusted
for the freedom her determination will one day bring the people of
Burma,'' he said.
   Though the conviction concerned communications equipment,
Nichols was believed punished for supporting Suu Kyi by, for
example, lending her a car after she was freed from six years of
house arrest last July.
   ``His three-year sentence was in reality punishment for loving
and helping Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,'' William Nichols said. Daw is a
Burmese honorific.
   William Nichols said his father had devoted the last decades of
his life to helping the poor and supported orphans through the
local Roman Catholic Church.
   Burma's state-controlled press has made no mention of Nichols'
death but continued Tuesday to assail Suu Kyi, who has challenged
the regime to step down in the past month despite the mass arrests
and new laws under which her party can be quickly banned.
   The New Light of Myanmar said Suu Kyi's decision to pull her
National League for Democracy out of a military-run constitutional
convention last November was done on the direct orders of Madeleine
Albright, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
   Albright visited Burma last year and met separately with Suu Kyi
and Gen. Khin Nyunt, a powerful figure in the junta. Albright
forcefully urged him to open a dialogue with Suu Kyi. The general
was reportedly upset with Albright's lack of respect.
   The paper accused the U.S. media, government and ``a group of
insane American congressman'' of interfering in Burma's internal
affairs and scheming to impose economic sanctions. It pointed out
that the United States, Britain and France rank among the Burma's
top five foreign investors.
   
251100 Jun GMT