BBC-Suu Kyi remains defiant

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Thursday, August 13, 1998 Published at 11:41 GMT 12:41 UK 
Suu Kyi remains defiant 

Burmese troops are continuing to prevent pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi from travelling outside the capital, Rangoon, for the second
consecutive day. 
Ms Suu Kyi was stopped at the same roadblock where last month she spent six
days in her car in a stand-off protest, after the authorities refused to
allow her to travel to visit her supporters. 
A government statement said Ms Suu Kyi and her party had been stopped on
Wednesday because they were "without proper security arrangements", and
were asked to return to Rangoon. 
Tension between the military Ms Suu Kyi has increased since she called for
a meeting of parliament in August consisting of candidates elected in the
May 1990 elections. 
The NLD won the elections but the military ignored the results and has
refused to convene parliament. 

Prepared for long wait 

Ms Suu Kyi, head of the National League for Democracy, left Rangoon on
Wednesday morning, accompanied by a driver and a senior member of her NLD
party. 
She was travelling in a van thought to contain enough food and water to
allow the group to endure more than the six days of Miss Suu Kyi 's last
stand-off. 
That protest ended when soldiers escorted her back to the capital. The
authorities said they had ended the protest for the sake of Ms Suu Kyi's
own health, but also accused her of carrying out a publicity stunt. 

International pressure 

Ms Suu Kyi's latest journey is her fourth attempt in two-months to travel
outside Rangoon. 
Her aim is to embarrass a regime that finds itself under mounting domestic
and international pressure. 
The embassies of Japan, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, South
Korea and the United States will urge Burma to begin dialogue with Ms Suu
Kyi, a Japanese government spokesman said on Wednesday. 
The opposition leader has vowed that she will continue to defy restrictions
placed on her movements by the government. 
The Burmese Government maintains there are no formal restrictions on Ms Suu
Kyi. 

Concern over detained foreigners 

Miss Suu Kyi's latest bid to increase pressure on Burma's military
government coincides with mounting international concern over 18 foreign
activists detained in Rangoon on Sunday for distributing anti-government
leaflets. 
The US Embassy in Rangoon says it made official representations on
Wednesday for the early release of the detainees. 
A United States congressman, Chris Smith, is making a personal bid to
secure the freedom of the six Americans being held, and is reportedly on
his way to Burma. However, Rangoon has indicated that he will not be given
a visa. 
The group also includes three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians,
two Philippine citizens and an Australian. 
Our correspondent says that the potential diplomatic complications might
deter the authorities from charging the foreigners. 
But a government spokesman on Wednesday said the detainees were "not
co-operating" and this had prolonged their detention.