INTERVIEW-Suu Kyi angry but wants d

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Subject: INTERVIEW-Suu Kyi angry but wants dialogue - aide 


INTERVIEW-Suu Kyi angry but wants dialogue - aide 
02:14 a.m. Apr 25, 1999 Eastern 
By David Brunnstrom 

YANGON, April 25 (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is
angry at the ruling generals' refusal to allow her husband to visit her
before he died but she still wants a dialogue with them, the deputy head of
her party has said. 

``She considers politics and personal matters are quite separate,'' Tin Oo,
the vice chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), told Reuters
in an interview at his Yangon home late on Saturday. 

``I know her feelings quite well and she is a great lady. She's very serene
and quite calm. Actually she feels a bit uneasy and some anger but she can
bury the animosity as long as there is the possibility of dialogue. If they
really care about the interests of Burma (Myanmar), why not sit down and
talk?'' 

Suu Kyi's husband, Oxford academic Michael Aris, died late last month of
prostate cancer on his 53rd birthday. 

He had not been allowed into Myanmar to visit his wife for the past three
years. The generals responded to his request to visit his wife a last time
by saying Suu Kyi should visit him in England. 

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner rejected this, fearing she would not be
allowed to return. She has not discussed her feelings since, calling it a
private affair. 

``We have no thoughts of retaliation or a hardening of attitude,'' Tin Oo
said. ``We just want dialogue.'' 

The military has long refused to enter a dialogue with Suu Kyi, who has been
the biggest thorn in its side since she emerged as an opposition leader at
the height of a pro-democracy uprising which was crushed bloodily by troops
in 1988. 

The NLD won a general election two years later by a landslide but the
generals ignored the result. The military government have refused to discuss
a transfer of power. 

Tin Oo said the government had missed an opportunity to build confidence
with the opposition. 

``If they really wanted to show goodwill, they should have allowed the visit
of her husband,'' he said. 

Tin Oo said the NLD had set no preconditions for talks except that the party
should be able to decide which of its representatives take part. The purpose
of talks would be ``first to sit down, just to break the ice.'' 

NLD chairman Aung Shwe did meet the powerful head of military intelligence
Lieutenant-general Khin Nyunt last year and the NLD called for the release
of political prisoners as a sign of good faith. 

``But nothing came of that,'' Tin Oo said. 

Myanmar has detained hundreds of NLD supporters and members of parliament
elected at the 1990 polls over the last year to prevent the party from
assembling a ``People's Parliament.'' 

Diplomats estimate the government is holding 1,000 to 2,000 political
prisoners. Tin Oo said 40 NLD MPs had been jailed by military tribunals and
most of the 392 elected in the 1990 election were under some form of
detention or restriction. 

The government denies holding political prisoners and says NLD members have
simply been ``invited'' for ``discussions'' at government guest houses. 

Tin Oo said that in some cases families had had no news of the whereabouts
of relatives and had received no response to petitions they had made to the
authorities for information. 

But he said the NLD remained active and continued to garner support amid
worsening economic conditions. 

Yangon residents say prices have been soaring and the government is
rationing electricity to cope with shortages. 

A recent Asian Development Bank report said inflation was unlikely to fall
much this year from the 50 percent in 1998. 

Tin Oo was forced to give his interview by candlelight because, like other
Yangon residents not living in military compounds, his electricity is
limited to part of the day. 

He said public discontent was growing but the last thing the NLD wanted to
see was a repeat of the sort of nationwide street protests seen in 1988. 

``This could be spark,'' he said, pointing to the candle. ``That's why we
are calling for dialogue.''