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AP 5/27
05-27-96 1034EDT =
Burma Rulers Blast Oppositio=
n
By AYE AYE WIN Assoc=
iated Press Writer
=A0=A0RANGOON, Burma (AP) Bu=
rma's military rulers denounced
pro-democracy leader Aung Sa=
n Suu Kyi and her followers
as dupes and ``maggots'' for=
going ahead with the most
important opposition meeting=
since the junta quashed 1990
elections. =
=A0=A0The regime arrested 23=
8 conference delegates and 24
other party members to try t=
o block Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy from op=
ening its three-day
conference on Sunday. But ev=
en though only 18 delegates
have made it, the meeting ha=
s proceeded as scheduled. =
=A0=A0Suu Kyi and her follow=
ers said Monday that an unknown
number of the activists arre=
sted last week had been
transferred to a prison noto=
rious for torture. =
=A0=A0In published remarks M=
onday, the junta leader denounced
the meeting and accused the =
opposition of falling prey to
the United States and other =
Western nations that he claims
seek to colonize Burma, also=
known as Myanmar. =
=A0=A0``There is a group of =
persons in Myanmar swaying to the
enticement of a big nation, =
which is attempting to bring
Myanmar under its influence =
through the pretext of
democracy and human rights,'=
' Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt was
quoted as saying in a speech=
Sunday at Rangoon University. =
=A0=A0``What they see is the=
bait and not the hook,'' the
state-run New Light of Myanm=
ar newspaper quoted him
Monday as saying. ``They are=
doing as dictated.'' =
=A0=A0The same newspaper ran=
a harsh editorial that called the
pro-democracy movement a for=
eign-orchestrated
conspiracy using ``maggots t=
hat can eat away into the
flesh.'' =
=A0=A0The conference's ultim=
ate objective is to get Burma's
military rulers to accept th=
e results of May 27, 1990,
parliamentary elections that=
her party overwhelmingly won.
The junta refused to let the=
parliament convene. =
=A0=A0Monday's conference pr=
oceedings were closed to the
media, but afterward, Suu Ky=
i told reporters that she
suspected the military regim=
e would detain some of her
jailed supporters ``for much=
longer than we thought they
were going to do.'' =
=A0=A0Some delegates have ha=
d charges filed against them,
likely under emergency power=
s laws that give the regime
the authority to hold people=
indefinitely for reasons of
national security, Suu Kyi s=
aid. =
=A0=A0The government has not=
disclosed where it has taken the
detainees. The regime claime=
d last week that they were
only being ``questioned ... =
as guests of the government.''
None is known to have been r=
eleased. =
=A0=A0Suu Kyi, winner of the=
1991 Nobel Peace Prize, said it
was ``almost certain'' that =
her personal assistant, Win
Htein, and several members o=
f her party's youth wing had
been transferred to the infa=
mous Insein prison near
Rangoon. =
=A0=A0Amnesty International,=
the London-based human rights
group, reported last year th=
at political prisoners at Insein
were beaten unconscious, mad=
e to crawl over sharp stones
and forced to remain in the =
blazing sun for hours. =
=A0=A0The mass roundup of co=
nference delegates was intended
to stall the meeting, which =
began on the sixth anniversary
of the elections and was see=
n as a symbolic challenge to
the junta's legitimacy. It i=
s the most important gathering
since Suu Kyi was released f=
rom six years of house arrest
in July. =
=A0=A0Suu Kyi defiantly said=
in her opening conference speech
Sunday the party would hold =
several congresses implicitly
daring the junta to repeat t=
he mass repression and ignite a
new round of world condemnat=
ion.