BBC-Suu Kyi's health 'failing'

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Thursday, August 20, 1998 Published at 13:19 GMT 14:19 UK 

Suu Kyi's health 'failing' 

The Burmese opposition party, the National League for Democracy, has said
the health of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi is failing and she may be forced
to give up her latest roadside protest against the government. 

The NLD said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate would be prepared to return
home if the country's military rulers agreed to release opposition
politicians who were jailed in May. 

Ms Suu Kyi and three supporters are parked in their van on a bridge 32 km
from the capital. 

They were halted there by the security forces on 12 August and denied
permission to travel to the west of the country. Ms Suu Kyi and her
companions have so far refused to return home. 

Last month a similar stand-off ended on its sixth day when the authorities
forcibly returned Ms Suu Kyi to Rangoon. 

'Frail' 

In a statement the NLD said Ms Suu Kyi had been visited by her doctor who
found her health "frail" but her morale high. 

The doctor was quoted as saying Ms Suu Kyi showed signs of dehydration and
her eyes were becoming yellow. 

The statement said that if the NLD leader's health got worse then she would
have to call off her protest. It added that it held the military
responsible for Ms Suu Kyi's health. 

The latest opposition demand came one day before a deadline, set by the
NLD, for the military government to convene a parliament elected in 1990. 

The NLD won that election but the result was ignored by the military. 

On Thursday, the government again rejected the demands for the result to be
respected. 

Former dissidents rally to military 

Meanwhile, two former Burmese dissidents who returned to the country this
week from 10 years in exile called on the opposition to adopt a more
flexible approach to the military government. 


Speaking in Rangoon at a news conference organised by the military, Win
Naing and Mya Mya Win said they had given up their refugee status in Japan
to help establish a sound democratic system in Burma. 

Other exiles attacked the move as a stunt to deflect attention from what
they said were widespread human rights abuses and growing political tension
in Burma.