Reuters : Suu Kyi resting after car

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Suu Kyi resting after car protest, diplomats say 
02:08 a.m. Aug 03, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 

YANGON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is
recovering well from the strains of a six-day sit-in protest, a day after
security measures were stepped up outside her home, diplomats said on
Monday. 

Government security officials allowed more than 100 supporters and
diplomats into the grounds of the Nobel laureate's lakeside residence on
Sunday, witnesses said. 

Most of Suu Kyi's visitors were met by Tin Oo, vice chairman of her
National League for Democracy (NLD), who explained she was resting and
unable to receive guests, they said. 

``Aung San Suu Kyi is fine,'' said a diplomat who visited the residence on
Sunday. ``She is taking a rest. She is recuperating well,'' he added. 

Security personnel acting on behalf of Myanmar's miltary government
forcibly ended the six-day car protest by Suu Kyi last Wednesday and took
her back to her Yangon home. 

Suu Kyi had been stopped at a bridge near a village outside Yangon on July
24 and prevented from driving to the western township of Pathein to meet
supporters. 

She was told to return to the capital but refused and began a sit-in
protest. Sources in her National League for Democracy (NLD) said she became
dehydrated and weak during the ordeal. 

The streets outside Suu Kyi's home were quiet on Monday morning with no
signs of unusual police or miltary activity. 

On Sunday, the State Peace and Delopment Council (SPDC) government set up a
checkpoint outside Suu Kyi's home and registered and took photographs of
visitors before allowing them to enter the house, witnesses said. 

``People thronged the checkpoint to register where the military
intellegence took pictures,'' one witness told Reuters. 

A Yangon-based diplomatic source said the SPDC had deployed more security
guards inside Suu Kyi's compound, apparently to prevent her from leaving
the residence in the run up to August 8, the 10th anniversary of a
pro-democracy uprising. 

The uprising sparked a bloody crackdown on the opposition in Yangon, scores
of people were killed and hundreds of others were wounded. More than 1,000
people were jailed in connection with the demonstrations. 

``We have heard that the government will impose more restrictions on Suu
Kyi in order to prevent any gathering that might take place on August 8,''
the diplomatic source said. 

Diplomats said they also expected tension ahead of an August 21 deadline
set by the NLD for the convening of a parliament made up of members elected
at a general election in May 1990. 

Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in the polls but the result was
ignored by the military. 

Suu Kyi has vowed to defy the government and travel outside Yangon again
once she recovers from her last ordeal. 

``But I don't think the SPDC will allow her to leave the house -- at least
not for the time being. The security guards in her house will stop her from
the beginning,'' said one diplomat. 

Meanwhile, the government appeared to be pressing ahead with the reopening
of Myanmar's universities, which have been closed since December 1996. 

No date has yet been set for their reopening but local newspapers were full
of university matriculation results over the weekend, indicating an
announcement may be made soon.