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AP-Myanmar Leader, Insurgents Linke (r)



Subject: AP-Myanmar Leader, Insurgents Linked

Wednesday January 6 1:06 PM ET

Myanmar Leader, Insurgents Linked

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A state-run newspaper accused embattled Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday of having links to ethnic
Karen insurgents.

It is illegal for Myanmar citizens to have contacts with ethnic insurgent
groups. The accusations against Suu Kyi, published in the state-run New
Light of Myanmar newspaper, could result in a prison term for the Nobel
Peace Prize laureate if proven.

She has already spent years under house arrest. At the present time, the
military government in Myanmar has placed sharp restrictions on her travel
around the country.

Ethnic Karen rebels, who have been fighting for autonomy from governments in
Yangon for 50 years, have been skirmishing with Myanmar government troops in
recent days near a $1.2 billion gas pipeline close to the border with
Thailand, according to Thai military officials.

Myanmar's military government launched a new crackdown on Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy party after it failed last year to get the regime to
convene a parliament that was democratically elected in 1990 but has never
met.

In recent months, the military has rounded up about 1,000 members of her
party and detained them until they resigned and quit politics. Last week,
256 more party members quit.