Reuter: SLORC Blasts Suu Kyi Over C

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Subject: Reuter: SLORC Blasts Suu Kyi Over Call for Sanctions

 SLORC Blasts Suu Kyi Over Call for Sanctions

    RANGOON, July 23 (Reuter) - Prominent Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi is plotting to keep the Burmese people shackled to poverty with
her calls for sanctions against the country, a state-run newspaper said on
Tuesday.
     The official New Light of Myanmar (Burma) newspaper, in a wide-ranging
attack on Suu Kyi, branded the pro-democracy activist "the puppet doll" and
slammed her support for international sanctions against Burma as part of an
attempt to grab power for her party.
     Suu Kyi, in a video-taped message to the European parliament last
week, repeated her call for sanctions to try to force political change on
Burma's military government.
     "She gave a speech in English asking Myanmar to be punished by
imposing economic sanctions which would enable her party to gain power and
establish democracy," a commentary in the paper said of Suu Kyi's
statement.
     Her call to the European Union came on the eve of the 49th anniversary
of the assassination of her father, Burma's pre-independence leader General
Aung San, and eight others. The July 19 anniversary was marked with a
solemn commemoration at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in central Rangoon.
     "The daughter has given a very good and noble gift to the people on
the death anniversary of her father," the commentary said sarcastically.
     "The gift for the country to lag behind in development and for the
majority of the people to suffer more difficulties and never recover from
poverty," it said.
     The commentary also attacked the 51-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner
for what it said was her attempt to twist the official Martyrs' Day
ceremony into political advantage and for her alleged failure to pay proper
obeisance at the commemoration, which she briefly attended.
     "She is continuing to carry out acts to make political gain at every
opportunity," the paper said.
     Suu Kyi was released from six years' house arrest in July last year.
     Leaders of the military government began verbal attacks on Suu Kyi in
November after she pulled her National League for Democracy (NLD) party out
of a government-organised convention held to draft the framework of a
pro-military constitution.
     The government intensified its media salvos against Suu Kyi after the
NLD decided at a party congress in May to draft a rival charter to the one
being drawn up at the government's convention.
     Shortly after the party meeting, the government introduced a new law
stipulating 20 years in prison for anyone deemed to be interfering with the
official constitution-drafting process.
     Suu Kyi told Reuters in an interview earlier this month that the NLD
would still go ahead with its plans to write a pro-democracy charter.
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