AP: 5000 GATHERED AT SUNDAY NLD FOR

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Subject: AP: 5000 GATHERED AT SUNDAY NLD FORUM

5000 GATHERED AT SUNDAY NLD FORUM

   By AYE AYE WIN
 Associated Press Writer
   RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi took a
careful step back Sunday from a showdown with Burma's military regime,
delivering a bland, inoffensive speech to supporters to avoid violating
harsh new public order laws.
   Some 5,000 people braved the new laws, which can land offenders in
prison for up to 20 years, to gather outside the gates of Suu Kyi's home
for her customary weekend lecture. The number was higher than usual, but
half that of two weeks ago.
   Authorities did not interfere, adding to confusion about whether the
regime was being tolerant or merely delaying a crackdown.
   Some Burmese afraid of being seen in the crowd slowly drove back and
forth before Suu Kyi's home in a sign of support for those bold enough to
join the crowd.
   "I am not afraid of anything," said a woman in the crowd, speaking on
condition of anonymity. "Many people who dare not come to this gathering
are awed by the courage of these people."
   The regime escalated its conflict with Suu Kyi on Friday by announcing a
new law curbing nearly all political activity. Prison sentences of five to
20 years were ordered for anyone seeking to "undermine the stability of the
state, community peace and tranquility."
   Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent
promotion of democracy, has been staging her biggest challenge to the
regime formally known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council since
she was freed from six years of house arrest last July.
   Despite the arrest of 262 supporters last month, she held a congress
marking the sixth anniversary of parliamentary elections overwhelmingly won
by the opposition. The regime never allowed Parliament to convene.
   The 18 delegates who eluded arrest called on the military to surrender
the power it has held since 1962 and announced plans to draft an alternate
constitution to a charter being formulated by a government-stacked panel.
   The junta announced Friday that any organization drafting a separate
constitution would be banned.
   Suu Kyi gave a deliberately non-inflammatory speech Sunday about
democracy in India and even praised the regime for keeping school fees low.
Her supporters clapped less than usual.
   The meeting was similar to one she held Saturday, the first since the
new decrees were handed down.
   Despite the threat of arrest, Sunday's crowd did not seem nervous.
   Before Suu Kyi appeared, they chanted for several minutes, "Long live
Aung San Suu Kyi," and "Let the cause for democracy be successful."
   People held dozens of tape recorders to capture her speech, which would
be distributed surreptitiously around Rangoon in hours.
   Closing her 10-minute talk, Suu Kyi said: "You are not gathering here
because we speak. This is a gathering of the people, who proved themselves
to be very orderly and disciplined."
   She asked them to leave quietly without blocking traffic. No police were
in sight.
   Earlier, authorities gathered 3,000 people near Suu Kyi's house to watch
a billboard go up denouncing interference in Burmese affairs -- coded
attacks on Suu Kyi and foreign support for her.
   Opposition officials said that only 154 of the 262 activists detained
three weeks ago to stop the congress have been freed. About 20 are believed
to have been transferred to Insein prison near Rangoon, notorious for
torture.
   
KT
ISBDA