General Says Suu Kyi's Party Threat

[BurmaJapan@xxxxxxx]

General Says Suu Kyi's Party Threatens Burma

               Reuters
               06-NOV-97

               RANGOON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A senior Burmese
               general said Aung San Suu Kyi and her National
               League for Democracy were inciting riots and
               pushing the country into an abyss, state-run media
               reported on Thursday. 

               ``They are pushing the nation toward the abyss as
               in the case of the pre-1962 period,'' the official
               papers quoted Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt,
               Secretary One of the ruling State Law and Order
               Restoration Council (SLORC), as saying in a
               speech on Wednesday. 

               In 1962 the military overthrew the democratic
               government of U Nu and seized power. The military
               has ruled ever since, with different leaders. 

               Khin Nyunt said the league's recent efforts to hold
               party meetings in some townships outside Rangoon
               were illegal and made to oppose the government. 

               ``It is shameful for patriots to see the attempts to
               destabilise the nation in order to trap the
               government in a tight corner, to disrupt the rule of
               law and incite riots,'' he said. ``They are doing so
               with the sole aim of gaining power.'' 

               The league lashed out at the government on
               Wednesday for restricting party activities and the
               movements of Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi. 

               It said Suu Kyi had been prevented from leaving her
               home on Wednesday. It also denounced the
               government for preventing party meetings over the
               past two weeks which were meant to organise its
               youth wing. 

               Two political gatherings outside Rangoon had been
               blocked by authorities, some equipped with clubs
               and shields, who set up roadblocks and carted off
               supporters to prevent the meetings, the party said. 

               Eight senior officials of Suu Kyi's party were also
               arrested last week in connection with the meetings,
               the party has said. 

               The SLORC retorted, saying Suu Kyi was rigid and
               uncompromising and had caused unnecessary
               setbacks for Burma in its transition towards
               democracy. 

               Khin Nyunt's speech went along the same lines,
               saying Burma's image was in danger of being
               tarnished around the world due to threats started by
               groups like the National League for Democracy. 

               Burma has been widely criticised for human rights
               abuses and for failing to hold talks with Suu Kyi. 

               Her party won a landslide victory in a 1990 election
               but the SLORC never recognised the result.