SLORC WANTS PRESS KEPT FROM SUU KYI

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

                         Burma Wants Press Kept
                         From Suu Kyi 

                         By ROBERT HORN 
                         Associated Press Writer 
                         Thursday, May 15, 1997 6:41 am EDT 

                         BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Burma's military rulers have
                         asked the Thai government to bar Thai reporters
from meeting
                         with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Thai
officials said
                         today. 

                         About 15 Thai journalists will accompany Prime Minister
                         Chavalit Yongchaiyudh when he travels to Burma to
confer with
                         leading members of that country's military
government Friday
                         and Saturday. 

                         The Burmese regime has been tightening restrictions
on, and
                         denying visas to, most foreign journalists to
prevent them from
                         trying to interview Suu Kyi. 

                         The generals are keeping the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize-winner in
                         a state of near-house arrest, with military
roadblocks around her
                         home preventing most supporters from reaching her. 

                         Chavalit has billed himself as a friend of Burma's
generals who
                         can use his close ties to try to expose them to
international norms
                         of behavior and help moderate their repressive
tactics. 

                         Burmese democracy activists and human rights groups
charge,
                         however, that in his rush to help Thai companies
that want to do
                         business in Burma, Chavalit has backed the military
                         government's policies. 

                         Thai government spokesmen refused to comment on the
                         Burmese request, calling it ``a very sensitive
matter.'' 

                         A Thai diplomat, who spoke only on condition of
anonymity,
                         said, however, that Burma's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs made the
                         request to its Thai counterpart while preparations
for the trip
                         were being arranged. 

                         He said that it was the government's duty to inform
the local
                         journalists of the Burmese request. The government
would
                         advise them that although Thailand has a tradition
of press
                         freedom, they were visiting a country that did not,
the diplomat
                         said. 

                         However, because Thailand observes freedom of the
press, the
                         government was not in a position to bar them from
attempting to
                         meet Suu Kyi, he said. 

                         He added that a Burmese liaison officer would be
posted with
                         the news corps. 

                         Thai journalists who accompanied former Prime Minister
                         Banharn Silpa-archa to Burma in 1996 complained
that Burmese
                         intelligence officers prevented them from leaving
their hotels
                         unescorted.