[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

"Ms Suu Kyi' security and safety"



         Junta won't ensure Suu Kyi's safety 
         (AFP, The Nation, Aug 12,'98)

  Burma's junta yesterday said it no longer took responsibility for the safety of the opposition leader Aung San suu kyi ,despite days earlier guaranteeing her security.
 "Since we have withdrawn our official security at her request,we are no longer responsible for her personal safety or security,"it said in a statement.
 Government security agents who had been deployed to protect Aung san Suu Kyi since her release from house release in 1995 were withdrawn when the Nobel peace laureate ordered them out of her compound here last Thursday.
 Her National League for Democracy(NLD),Burma's leading opposition party,said its young supporters would protect her.
 The junta said about 10 youths had been staying at the compound around the clock since the official security team withdrew.
 Last Friday,the junta said Aung San Suu Kyi's safety was guaranteed.
 "As a prominent citizen of Burma, and also being the daughter of modern Myanmar national hero Gen Aung San, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi will always be provided with all necessary security and protection," a junta spokesman said in a statement.
 In yesterday's statement, the junta also denied NLD claims security had been increased around Aung San Suu Kyi's home to a level where she was effectively under"house arrest". Meanwhile,a street-side protest by some 50 exiled students from Burma entered its seventh day yesterday outside Rangoon's embassy in Bangkok.
 Police have urged the group to move but said they would not use force.
 The number of demonstrators had fallen 60 a day earlier and some 250 on Saturday,the 10th anniversary of a military crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Rangoon which left thousands dead by some accounts, according to a police officer based near the embassy.
 Exiled pro-democracy groups have called for a mass campaign of civil disobedience in Burma and warned of confrontation if the junta does not convene parliament by Aug 21, a deadline set by NLD.
 The protesters  in Bangkok said they would remain outside the embassy until parliament was convened and some pledged to launch hunger strike if the Aug 21 deadline was not met.