NEWS - Suu Kyi Resting after Car Pr

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Suu Kyi Resting after Car Protest, Diplomats Say

            Reuters
            03-AUG-98

            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.