U.S. condemns action against Nobel

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

U.S. condemns action against Nobel winner 
08:10 a.m. Jul 30, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 

YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's military said on Thursday it ended
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's car sit-in protest on Wednesday on her
doctors' advice, but the United States condemned the action. 

The junta said it had no choice but to forcibly return Suu Kyi to her
Yangon home after noting her personal physicians' advice and the failure of
her physician and top officials from her National League for Democracy
(NLD) party to persuade her to end the standoff. 

``She may not like what we did to her now but she will be grateful for this
in the future,'' a government spokesman told a news conference. 

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in a speech in Sydney that
the junta's move to force Suu Kyi to end the six-day protest was ``an
unacceptable violation of her human rights.'' 

``Today, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was marking her sixth day in the standoff,
was all of a sudden taken in her car by a military driver back to Rangoon
and thereby forbidden from exercising a basic human right -- to be able to
travel freely in your own country,'' said Albright. 

NLD officials were unavailable for immediate comment on Suu Kyi's return.
But the party was due to hold a news conference later on Thursday on the
standoff. 

Suu Kyi began the sit-in in her car last Friday on the outskirts of the
capital after security officials stopped her vehicle and prevented her from
proceeding to western Pathein Township to meet supporters. 

The Nobel peace prize winner refused to budge from the spot and rejected a
government request that she return to Yangon for further talks on her
demand to be allowed to travel freely. 

Yangon-based diplomats had said on Wednesday that Suu Kyi was running out
of food and her health may be failing. But the military denied this and
said it had food and medical assistance at hand for her. 

Her unusual protest sparked wide international condemnation of the ruling
junta by some leading countries, including the United States and Japan,
which vowed to continue applying pressure on the government. 

The government spokesman said three top officials of Suu Kyi's NLD party
tried for nearly two hours late on Wednesday to convince her to end the
protest but failed. They then left it up to the government to take action,
the spokesman said. 

A Yangon-based diplomat told Reuters that Suu Kyi was accompanied by two
security men back to her residence in the capital, where she arrived at
10.20 p.m. (1530 GMT). 

``The government on its part, taking this initiative to break the standoff,
does not have much to gain since it is not responsible for any act that a
person or a group of persons does or do on their own free will,'' a
government statement said. 

``But we do not wish to see anybody's life go wasted for no good reason and
that is the reason why we have taken this timely course of action,'' it
added. 

Diplomats and analysts welcomed the defusing of the standoff but said they
were waiting to see if the junta might take new action to restrict her
future movements. 

``I think she and the party may have finally realized that there was little
to be gained from this (protest), she was also probably tired after the car
sit-in for so many days,'' said a Yangon-based diplomat. 

``It also could have been her plan to protest until the ASEAN meeting with
its dialogue partners in Manila ended. But more importantly it will be
interesting to see whether after this, the government will restrict her
movements,'' he said. 

Suu Kyi's protest generated world attention as it took place during
meetings of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign
ministers and the grouping's dialogue partners in Manila, which ended on
Wednesday. 

The government said she was stopped because she did not have her security
team with her and it was concerned she might be harmed by anti-government
elements. 

The government has also accused Suu Kyi of trying to foment dissent ahead
of the planned reopening next month of universities and other institutions
closed in December 1996 due to student unrest. 

Tensions between the junta and the NLD escalated recently after Suu Kyi
urged the government to convene by August 21 a parliament comprising
members elected in May 1990. The NLD swept that poll but the military
ignored the result. 

The Alternative ASEAN Network, a human rights group critical of the Myanmar
junta, welcomed Suu Kyi's return home and said she had made her point to
the world about the military's curbs on her and the NLD's movements and
activities. 

``We are very relieved that for the sake of her health she has come back.
We think it is unacceptable that elected representatives in Burma (Myanmar)
are not allowed freedom of movement,'' said the group's coordinator Debbie
Stothard. 

``The point has been made. She was representing the aspirations of millions
of freedom-loving people in Burma.'' 

The Network hoped the military would now allow Suu Kyi greater freedom of
movement and that international pressure on the junta would inspire it to
resume dialogue with Suu Kyi and the opposition.