AFP-Myanmar junta hauls Aung San Su

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Myanmar junta hauls Aung San Suu Kyi's van off highway amid stand-off
Thu 13 Aug 98 - 14:07 GMT 

YANGON, Aug 13 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Thursday hauled a van carrying
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from a highway near Yangon on the second
day of a roadside stand-off with military officials, diplomats said.

Some diplomats said the van, also carrying two drivers and an official of
her National League for Democracy (NLFD), had been towed to a bridge where
she spent six days in another confrontation last month.

Others reported troops had manually lifted the vehicle and carried it to a
nearby riot police compound.

"As far as we know she is still there, and it is just like last time," a
western embassy official said, referring to a six-day stand-off which ended
when the Nobel peace laureate was forcibly taken back to her home July 29.

In that instance, she was blocked from travelling to meet supporters
outside Yangon, and refused to budge from the roadside some 25 kilometres
(15 miles) outside the Myanmar capital.

She was in almost exactly the same position after again being blocked by
officials when she attempted to travel Wednesday, the diplomats said.

But they added that in the latest incident she was in a mini-van rather
than a sedan, and had brought extra supplies.

"It looks like she is getting ready to sit it out longer this time,"
another western diplomat said.

It was Aung San Suu Kyi's fourth failed attempt to travel to meet
provincial supporters in a little over a month.