AP: 05/27/97 Burma Military Blocks

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Subject: AP: 05/27/97 Burma Military Blocks Roads

                      Burma Military Blocks
                         Roads

                         Tuesday, May 27, 1997 5:28 am EDT

                         RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Heavily armed riot police
                         blocked roads leading to the homes of
pro-democracy
                         leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputies today to
                         prevent supporters from commemorating their 1990
                         election victory.

                         Police also used barbed wire barricades to seal
the
                         office of the National League for Democracy, the
party
                         that Suu Kyi leads. The opposition party won 82
                         percent of the seats in a Parliament that the
military
                         regime refused to convene.

                         At least 316 members of Suu Kyi's party who had
                         planned to attend today's commemoration have been
                         arrested by Burma's military government, the
party's
                         vice chairman, Tin Oo, said Monday. Troops
                         surrounded his home this morning.

                         More than 200 other party members from across
                         Burma came to Rangoon in hopes of participating in
 the
                         congress at Suu Kyi's lakeside compound, a party
                         member said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

                         All were turned back this morning by police and
                         plainclothes intelligence officers as they tried
to
                         approach their leaders' homes. No new arrests were
                         reported.

                         Ten members of the party's executive committee had
                         already arrived at Suu Kyi's compound before it
was
                         sealed off.

                         Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her
                         efforts to bring democracy to military-ruled
Burma. In
                         1995, she was released from six years of house
arrest
                         for her political activities.

                         Since then, she has consistently called for the
military to
                         honor results of the 1990 election. The United
Nations
                         has also urged the military government to accept
the
                         election results and return power to the people.

                         The military keeps guards around Suu Kyi's home to
                         block journalists and prevent her from giving
weekend
                         speeches to the public, but has allowed her to
have
                         several hundred supporters as guests on public
                         holidays.

                         This is the second straight year that the
government has
                         arrested hundreds of Suu Kyi's followers to
prevent
                         them from commemorating the 1990 election.

                         The government has denied it has arrested anyone.
It
                         made the same denial after detaining 262 members
of
                         Suu Kyi's party in 1996. About two dozen party
                         members the government insisted it never arrested
are
                         now serving long prison terms.

                         The United States, Japan, Britain, Germany and
several
                         other western governments have condemned the
                         arrests.

                               ? Copyright 1997 The Associated Press

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