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NEWS - Myanmar general sees Suu Kyi



Subject: NEWS - Myanmar general sees Suu Kyi as ``younger sister''

NOTE: In Burma, it is normal for familiar people to refer to each other
as brother and sister instead of friend or acquaintance.

Myanmar general sees Suu Kyi as ``younger sister''

  
BANGKOK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Myanmar's powerful intelligence chief said in
a rare interview he bears no personal grudge towards opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and sees her as a ``younger sister,'' but wishes she
would abandon confrontation. 

Interviewed by Asiaweek magazine in Manila this week, Lieutenant General
Khin Nyunt also denied that Yangon's much-criticised military was
holding political prisoners and said democracy would come sooner if the
West lifted sanctions. 

The interview will appear in the next edition of Asiaweek on sale from
Dec 10. Asiaweek issued a news release on the interview on Wednesday. 

Asked if he personally disliked Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate who
has been the biggest thorn in the military government's side since it
seized direct power in 1988 by crushing a pro-democracy uprising, Khin
Nyunt replied: 

``We regard Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a younger sister. I have no personal
animosity toward her and it is my earnest hope that she will change her
totally negative and confrontational attitude against us, which is also
negatively affecting the entire nation.'' 

Some political analysts have characterised the current political impasse
in Myanmar as a battle of wills between Khin Nyunt, 60 and Suu Kyi, 54,
considered by many to be the country's two most influential figures. 

The quietly spoken and taciturn Khin Nyunt is the head of the feared
Directorate of Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence. Officially
number three in the military government, he is widely thought to be its
most powerful figure. 

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won Myanmar's last election in
1990 by a huge margin but the military never allowed it to govern and
has since tried to silence the party through arrests and intimidation,
including forced resignations. 

PARTY ``DISSATISFIED'' WITH SUU KYI 

Asked if Suu Kyi would ever be allowed to lead the country, Khin Nyunt
replied: ``Even among her own party members, even the hardcore members,
they are resigning from the party because they are dissatisfied at the
way that she is running the party...more and more are supporting the
government.'' 

Khin Nyunt repeated government denials when asked about reports of
800-1,000 political prisoners being hled in the country. 

``Let me put the record straight. There are no political prisoners in
our country. We do not put people in prison because of their political
beliefs...That is an exaggerated number.'' 

Asked why the government refused to let Suu Kyi travel outside Yangon,
Khin Nyunt said there were constant threats from terrorist groups that
could endanger her life. 

``This we would not want to happen. So we are requesting her to stay in
Yangon for the time being.'' 

He defended the government's economic and political record, saying it
had switched from a socialist system to a market-orientated one and
carried out unprecedented infrastructure development. It had also led
the country out of isolation to join the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations. 

To the suggestion it had failed politically, he said: ``That's not true.
We have changed the political system from a one-party state to a
multi-party system. Please remember it was only during our time that
political parties were allowed to be formed.'' 

Khin Nyunt declined to criticise Ne Win, architect of Myanmar's
authoritarianism who headed the failed 1962-1988 socialist
administration and is still considered a power behind the scenes. 

``It's not our policy to pass judgement on previous administrations.
Whatever they did during their time, they tried to do it with the
interests of the national at heart. There is no linkage between the
previous government and the present one.'' 

06:53 12-08-99