US Blasts Move Against Suu Kyi

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar opposition, US blast move against Suu Kyi


YANGON, July 30 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military said on Thursday it had
forcibly ended opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's unusual sit-in protest on
her doctors' advice, drawing sharp international criticism. 

The United States, Britain and France condemned the move, as did Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD). Japan and the European Union earlier
expressed concern over her treatment. 

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the forcible ending of Suu
Kyi's protest was ``an unacceptable violation of her human rights.'' 

The Myanmar government said it had no choice but to forcibly return Suu Kyi to
her Yangon home late on Wednesday because of her own physicians' advice and
the failure of the doctors and top NLD officials 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. 

Security officials stopped Suu Kyi and three associates last Friday in Anyarsu
village outside Yangon as they were travelling to a meeting with NLD
supporters. The officials told the Nobel laureate to return to Yangon, but she
refused and spent six days in her car. 

The government said Suu Kyi had been stopped because she did not have her
security team with her and it feared she might be harmed by anti-government
elements. 

NLD officials told reporters on Thursday the military had committed a criminal
act by forcibly ending her protest and the party would consider suing. 

``She (Suu Kyi) told me that she was abducted by force; that two women had
grabbed her arms on either side and pushed her into a car,'' said U Lwin, a
top party official said. 

Suu Kyi was later driven to her Yangon home. 

``She sent word to this news conference that she will go out again as soon as
she becomes well enough to travel,'' he said. 

Albright, speaking in Sydney, said Suu Kyi ``was all of a sudden taken in her
car by a military driver back to Rangoon (Yangon) and thereby forbidden from
exercising a basic human right -- to be able to travel freely in your own
country.'' 

Britain's Foreign Office summoned Myanmar's ambassador to lodge a protest over
Suu Kyi's treatment. 

``I want to make clear that the Burmese regime's interference in Aung San Suu
Kyi's freedom of movement and association is unacceptable,'' Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook said in a statement. 

``This fundamental infringement of her basic human rights can only do harm to
Burma. It is high time the regime recognised the need to open an immediate
dialogue with the NLD,'' Cook said. 

In Paris, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement: ``France is deeply worried
about the situation in the Myanmar Republic. It deplores that the Myanmar
authorities have not responded to calls from the international community, and
notably the European Union, to open dialogue. 

``France renews its call on the Myanmar authorities to revoke restrictive
measures imposed on political leaders, notably Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi... Her
physical safety is of great concern to the international community.'' 

Yangon-based diplomats said on Wednesday 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 for her. 

The Yangon spokesman said three top NLD officials tried for nearly two hours
late on Wednesday to convince Suu Kyi to end the protest, then left it up to
the government to take action. 

However, NLD chairman Aung Shwe said party officials merely had discussed how
to end the standoff when they went to see Suu Kyi, who was running a high
fever, on Wednesday evening. 

Suu Kyi had said she would end her protest if the government released all
party members detained since May 27 and fixed a definite timetable for
dialogue with the NLD. 

``We had originally planned to see the authorities today to discuss our
demands with them,'' he added. ``However, last night they took her here by
force. I think this is a criminal act because she came back against her will.
It's like kidnapping.'' 

Other party officials said Suu Kyi told them the military had not given her
water and she had gathered rainwater in umbrellas for drinking. Food taken to
her by NLD officials was disallowed. 

The government said it had little to gain by ending the standoff. ``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 said in a
statement. 

Diplomats and analysts warned the government might restrict Suu Kyi's future
movements. 

``I think she and the party may have finally realised 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 coincided with the Association of South East Asian Nations'
conference in Manila with its dialogue partners that ended on Wednesday. For
related news, double click on one of the following codes: G BU POL DIP US NEWS
FR GB LEN RTRS Thursday, 30 July 1998 16:03:45 RTRS nHKHDKU0HE 

12:57 07-30-98