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US condemns attack on Burma pro-dem



Subject: US condemns attack on Burma pro-democracy leader.




	U.S. condemns attack on Burma pro-democracy leader
	**************************************************

                     November 10, 1996

                     RANGOON, Burma (CNN) -
                     The United States on Sunday
                     strongly condemned an attack on
                     pro-democracy leader Aung San
                     Suu Kyi and her two top aides,
                     calling on Burma's military regime
                     to prevent future such attacks. 

                     "The United States is outraged by
                     this attack which took place under circumstances 
		     which are -- to say the least -- extremely disturbing,
		     " U.S. diplomat Kent
                     Wiedemann said in a statement. 

                     Wiedemann demanded the Burmese government to conduct an
                     immediate investigation into the attack, in which a 
		     mob of about
                     200 people attacked cars carrying Suu Kyi and her aides
                     Saturday. Suu Kyi and witnesses said government 
		     forces watched
                     the melee but did not intervene. 

                                                                          

                     Mobs were still roaming the streets Sunday, but no 
		     violence had
                     been reported. 

                     In his statement, Wiedemann called on the ruling 
		     State Law and
                     Order Restoration Council to punish those 
		     responsible for the
                     attack and urged SLORC to "take every possible means 
		     to assure
                     the safety of Aung San Suu Kyi and to prevent any 
		     such attacks in
                     the future." 

                     A government official said investigations were under 
		     way. But the
                     military regime has yet to make an official 
		     statement on Saturday's
                     attack. 

                     Wiedemann and U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), who
                     arrived in Burma Sunday, met with senior SLORC 
	    	     officials and
                     Suu Kyi before issuing the statement. 

                     Suu Kyi accuses government for inciting unrest 

                     The incident took place as Suu Kyi and two top 
		     leaders of her
                     National League for Democracy, Kyi Maung and Tin Oo, 
		     left Kyi
                     Maung's house in two cars to meet hundreds of 
		     supporters. The
                     mob began beating the cars with fists and sticks, 
		     smashing the
                     windows and denting the side of Tin Oo's vehicle. 

                     The crowd dispersed only after a security officer 
		     waived a pistol in
                     the air, witnesses said. No one was seriously 
		     injured in the attack. 

                     Suu Kyi said afterward that the attack had been 
		     carefully
                     orchestrated by the government and carried out by 
		     its supporters.
                     Witnesses also said they had little doubt that the 
		     mob was acting
                     with government approval. Such large gatherings in a 
		     public place
                     are illegal under military law unless the government 
		     grants
                     permission. 

                     Burma's military regime deals harshly with all 
		     dissent and keeps a
                     tight control on law and order. The authorities have 
		     barred people
                     from coming to listen to Suu Kyi in front of her 
		     house where, up
                     until about six weeks ago, she addressed several 
		     thousand of her
                     supporters every weekend. She began the meetings in 
		     July 1995
                     after being released from six years of house arrest. 

                     Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her 
		     efforts to bring
                     democracy to Burma, also known as Myanmar. 

		     [CNN News, 10 November 1996].

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