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Suu Kyi is Still in the Van..



Aung San Suu Kyi maintains stand-off on day of reckoning with junta
Fri 21 Aug 98 - 04:28 GMT
YANGON, Aug 21 (AFP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sitting
on a
rural bridge for a tenth consecutive day Friday as the country's junta ignored
her protest and a
deadline for convening the national parliament elected in 1990, foreign
diplomats said.
The capital remained calm with no increased security presence other than extra
traffic police
outside schools where university exams are being staged for the first time
since campuses were
closed following unrest in December 1996.
"They don't want to give anyone any reason to complain, about traffic jams
about anything," a
resident said.
Foreign diplomats have warned the Nobel peace laureate's Friday deadline for
the junta to
convene parliament or face unspecified consequences could spark unrest.
But local analysts in Yangon said the situation had been defused by a meeting
Tuesday between
the chairman of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung
Shwe, and
junta intelligence chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, widely seen as number
two in the
military heirarchy.
Details of the one hour meeting have not been revealed by either side but the
junta in a
statement said it would be the first in a series of talks.
"That has really taken the pressure off," said a local analyst, who declined
to be named.
"We have talked about it and the consensus is that August 21 is no longer
important."
Exiled Myanmar opposition groups, however, have called for a campaign of mass
civil
disobedience if the parliament is not convened Friday and the diplomats said
the NLD was no
longer the sole player in the ultimatum it issued.
"The NLD might decide to do nothing if it is happy with the way things are
going," one foreign
diplmat said.
"But they must realise their credibility is at stake. You can't just issue
ultimatums then walk away
if they are ignored.
"The other groups know this too and perhaps they are more militant. They
certainly aren't
obligated to the NLD and they could take some action of their own."
The NLD-led opposition won the 1990 polls by a landslide but the junta has
refused to
relinquish power.
Yangon markets have been abuzz with rumours that unrest will erupt if the
junta fails to convene
parliament. There have also been widespread rumours of the impending release
of key political
prisoners following the Tuesday talks.
Truckloads of troops have been deployed late at night at strategic locations
this week in what
residents said was an apparent bid to discourage any form of protest.
Aung San Suu Kyi was Friday spending her tenth day in a minibus parked on a
small bridge 25
kilometres (15 miles) from Yangon after being blocked from travelling to meet
provincial
supporters.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, a UN human rights body Thursday urged the Myanmar
government to
ensure the security of Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the NLD.
A resolution on human rights activists adopted by a UN subcommission requests
Myanmar
authorities to "in particular guarantee her freedom of movement and
expression."
The resolution, backed by 21 of the subcommission's 24 experts in a secret
ballot, also urges
the government to allow the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myamar to
visit the
country.
In Bangkok, some 30 exiled Myanmar students maintained their vigil outside the
Myanmar
embassy to support the call for parliament to be convened in Myanmar, where
the kyat
currency has hit new lows amid the rising political tensions.
The kyat was trading around 380 to the dollar in Yangon's black market Friday,
against 150 to
the dollar before Asia became embroiled in an economic crisis last July and an
official rate of six
kyat to the dollar.