AP : Myanmar says people afraid to

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Myanmar says people afraid to break law; Suu Kyi security eased
August 9, 1998
Web posted at: 4:32 a.m. EDT (0832 GMT) 

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?No barbed-wire barricades 
?Most of the past decade under house arrest 
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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's military regime stiffened its security
detail on the streets around Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's house Sunday
after complying with her requests to withdraw the detachment from her
property. 

But security outside her home and in the capital remained light a day after
the sensitive 10th anniversary of a nationwide uprising against military
rule, which the army eventually crushed by killing as many as 3,000 people.


The anniversary itself passed calmly Saturday without demonstrations
anywhere in the country, the government reported. Rumors continued to fly
Sunday that pro-democracy activists were gathering to stage protests, but
none could be confirmed. 

Government newspapers said plainly that the peaceful anniversary -- which
dashed predictions by exiled Myanmar opposition groups of a new uprising --
could be attributed to fear. 

"Even though the democracy princess wanted the people to go out on the
streets and create an anarchy in the country, the people dare not break the
laws of the existing government," said an opinion piece. 

Suu Kyi, who recently engaged authorities in a six-day standoff on a road
outside the capital, requested Thursday that the security detail posted
inside her lakeside compound be withdrawn. 

No barbed-wire barricades

The government announced Saturday it had complied but would continue to
assure her safety. The detail is believed by diplomats to be part of
extensive surveillance of Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for
Democracy. 

On University Avenue where she lives, signs put in place two years ago to
warn off non-residents were supplemented Saturday with long bamboo poles
that can be raised to allow people to enter. But unlike in past tense
periods, there were no barbed-wire barricades. 

Neighbors said that two cars -- one a marked police vehicle, the other
unmarked -- were parked outside Suu Kyi's residence, facing in either
direction. They appeared poised to easily follow her if she tried to leave.


Suu Kyi has been stepping up her campaign to bring more democracy to the
country, also known as Burma, ahead of an August 21 deadline she has set
for the government to finally convene the parliament elected in 1990. 

The opposition overwhelmingly won the elections, but the military, which
has ruled the country since 1962, never allowed parliament to meet and has
steadily persecuted Suu Kyi's supporters. 

Most of the past decade under house arrest

Suu Kyi, daughter of independence hero Aung San, has spent most of the past
decade under house arrest or less formal restriction to her home. 

On Friday, her party exercised one of its few available powers and refused
a government invitation for Chairman Aung Shwe to meet a mid-level Cabinet
minister for talks. Suu Kyi and the party's two vice chairmen were
forbidden from attending. 

The NLD has long called for a dialogue, but fears the ruling State Peace
and Development Council is trying to divide the party's leaders and isolate
Suu Kyi, the group's most potent international symbol. 

In Bangkok, Thailand, police ordered the 200 or so Myanmar citizens who had
gathered outside the embassy Saturday to protest against the government to
disperse. 

Their numbers Sunday were down to about 70, but police said they wanted the
figure under 40, citing complaints from the embassy and residents. Three
protesters who did not have papers to be in Bangkok were detained and were
to be sent back to a refugee camp.