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SLORC accuses US of helping NLD



27Sep96 BURMA: BURMA DETAINS 109 ACTIVISTS, THWARTS MEETING. 12:09 GMT

By Deborah Charles
RANGOON, Sept 27 (Reuter) - Burmese police detained 109 activists and
blocked all roads leading to democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house on
Friday to stop a congress of her party from taking place, a senior
government official said.
The Nobel Peace laureate had not been rearrested, he said.
"Altogether 109 persons have been called in for questioning and brought to
local guest houses," the official told Reuters.
"How soon they are released will depend on the situation of the other side.
If everything is normal and quiet they could be released right away. If it
is not right, it may be a few days."
The official said the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
had decided to prevent Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) from
holding the meeting because it did not have government permission for the
gathering.  "The reason for preventing the meeting from taking place is
because they invited more than 200 representatives, and a congress of this
size needs prior consent of the authorities and they failed to do this," the
official said in an interview.  He said the NLD was joining forces with
foreign governments like the United States to hold the congress in an effort
to undermine Burma's peace and stability.  He said the NLD and United States
had timed the meeting to coincide with discussions of a sanctions bill
against Burma in the U.S. Congress, and the opening of the United Nations
General Assembly.  The NLD said on Thursday it was holding the meeting to
celebrate its eighth anniversary.  The party, born amid unprecedented
protests against military rule in 1988, won a landslide victory in 1990
general elections which was never recognised by SLORC.  Suu Kyi, daughter of
Burma's revered independence leader, Aung San, was under house arrest at the
time. The party congress was to have been the first time Suu Kyi would meet
the elected representatives of the NLD as a group.  In May, the goverment
detained more than 260 party delegates due to attend a similar NLD congress.
The SLORC released most of them after about 10 days, but several dozen were
charged and given long prison terms.  The government also blocked University
Avenue, the road Suu Kyi's house is on, to prevent anyone from going to her
house.  "For three days, September 27, 28 and 29, nobody is allowed to go
to...Suu Kyi's residence," said security police Captain Aung Aung, who was
manning a checkpoint on the road.  "She can go and come as she pleases, we
don't restrict her. We only need to stop people from going to her house," he
said.  Suu Kyi, who was released from six years of house arrest in July
1995, could not be reached for comment.
Police set up roadblocks and checkpoints and stopped vehicles from
travelling on several blocks of University Avenue.  Heavily-armed security
police and military intelligence officers stopped a Reuters correspondent on
the street about 400 metres (yards) from Suu Kyi's lakeside home, saying no
one was allowed to go near her house.  A sign with a red "x" through a
camera stood near another checkpoint, and one foreign cameraperson said the
government had confiscated film shot near Suu Kyi's house.  Several hundred
officers had manned the streets since early on Friday morning, witnesses
said.  Although the blockage of University Avenue, one of Rangoon's main
streets, caused major traffic snarls the rest of the city was calm and there
was no sign of military presence.   (c) Reuters Limited 1996
REUTER NEWS SERVICE 
27Sep96 BURMA: BURMA ACCUSES U.S. OF HELPING DESTABILISE COUNTRY. 11:54 GMT  

By Deborah Charles
RANGOON, Sept 27 (Reuter) - Burma accused the United States on Friday of
helping democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi plan a party meeting that was
aimed at undermining the peace and stability of the country.
Burmese officials said the United States had urged Suu Kyi to hold a
congress of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party to coincide with
discussions of a sanctions bill against Burma in the U.S. Congress.
"The United States Embassy coordinated with the NLD for more than one month
to organise this meeting so it coincided with discussions of the Cohen
ammendment in Congress," a senior Burmese official told Reuters.
A U.S. government official dismissed the accusation as "ridiculous," and
said the United States had no control over the actions of Suu Kyi or her party.
Suu Kyi, who was released from six years of house arrest in July 1995, had
called a party congress for Friday through Sunday to celebrate the NLD's
eighth anniversary. The group was formed in August 1988 following months of
unprecedented protests against military rule that left thousands dead or
imprisoned.
The U.S. Congress, due to adjourn on Friday, has yet to vote on the 1997
Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which includes the Cohen amendment
on Burma.
The amendment urges Burma's military government to improve its human rights
record and says the United States will not offer Burma assistance except for
humanitarian or anti-narcotics aid. It is supported by the Clinton
administration and welcomed by Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi.
The measure also allows the president to prohibit U.S. investment in Burma
if Suu Kyi is rearrested or exiled, or if there is large-scale repression of
the opposition.
U.S. officials expect the bill to be approved by both the House and the
Senate and to be signed into law by Clinton.
On Friday, Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
detained many NLD members planning to attend the congress, the Burmese
official said without giving numbers.
Security police also set up roadblocks and checkpoints to block off
University Avenue in front of Suu Kyi's home, where the congress was to be
held. No one was allowed to go near the house although the official said Suu
Kyi was not being detained.
The official said the SLORC blocked the street and detained the NLD members
because the party did not receive permission to hold the meeting, and
because the NLD was working with Western governments like the United States
to destabilise Burma.
Burmese officials said U.S. charge d'affairs Marilyn Meyers had met
government officials earlier in the week to urge them not to prevent the NLD
from holding the meeting.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman confirmed that Meyers had met officials from the
Foreign Ministry, but did not say what they discussed.
The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 general election but was never
allowed to take power because the SLORC refused to recognise the results of
the poll.   (c) Reuters Limited 1996 REUTER NEWS SERVICE
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