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U.S. Democrats award Daw Aung San S



Subject: U.S. Democrats award Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

	*** U.S. Democrats award Suu Kyi, Mondale+ ***
            ======================================
            By Kohei Murayama

     	CHICAGO, Aug. 26 Kyodo - The U.S. National Democratic Institute
	for International Affairs presented an award Monday to Myanmar
	democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and U.S. Ambassador to Japan
	Walter Mondale in recognizing their efforts in promoting democracy.
     
	The Democratic Party-affiliated institute held the presentation
	ceremony of its 10th annual W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award in
	Chicago on the sidelines of the party's four-day national convention,
	where President Bill Clinton will be officially nominated for his
	reelection bid in Nov. 5.
     
	Some 600 international guests, including political leaders and
	diplomats, attended the ceremony, along with U.S. administration
	officials, business leaders and experts.
     
	Suu Kyi's husband, Michael Aris, received the award for the
	Myanmar democratic leader, who did not want to leave the country for
	fear she would not be allowed back.
     	Presenting the award, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
	Madeleine Albright said, ''For if she were to leave her country, she
	would not be allowed to return.  And upon her presence and
	leadership, the future of democracy in Burma depends.''
     
	In a videotaped address, however, Suu Kyi said, ''It is a great
	honor for me to receive (the award) in the name of the movement for
	democracy in Burma and also in the name of all of the people of Burma
	because I know that the people of my country want democracy.''
     	Suu Kyi is leading her National League for Democracy (NLD) party
	in opposition to the nation's junta, known as the State Law and Order
	Restoration Council (SLORC).
     	''At this moment, we in the movement for democracy are facing a
	lot of difficulties,'' she said, noting the SLORC ''is doing
	everything it can to crush the movement for democracy.''
     	''We in the National League for Democracy in particular are
	subjected to all kinds of persecution, and the movement of our party
	is restricted in so many ways that it is hardly possible for us to
	operate as a political party should,'' Suu Kyi said.
     	''In spite of that, we remain strong in our resolve and we know
	that we shall reach the goal that we wish to reach, with the help of
	the people and the support of the international community,'' she 
	said.
     	Mondale said he is honored to join Suu Kyi in receiving the
	award while praising her democratic movements in Myanmar.
    	''It is very clear that democratic government and economic
	growth go hand in hand in Asia,'' Mondale said in alluding to Japan,
	Taiwan, Hong Kong and other Asian nations with strong economies.
     	Specifying Myanmar and North Korea, Mondale said Asian
	nations with ''brutal regimes'' are facing economic and other
	difficulties.
     	Albright said, ''Clearly, it is Aung San Suu Kyi, not the SLORC,
	who represents Burmese national identity and pride.  In the last 30
	years, only she, and the movement she leads, have received a mandate
	from Burma's people to speak for them and their country.''
     	''That is why we ask the SLORC to begin a serious dialogue with
	the forces of democracy, to cease torture and repression, and to move
	Burma down the path towards economic and social progress in larger
	freedom,'' Albright said.
     	''That is why we ask our friends in Asia and elsewhere who
	advocate constructive engagement with the SLORC to be sure that their
	engagement is, in fact, constructive,'' she said, ''We should not,
	after all, be rewarding despots, we should be encouraging them either
	to change or to leave.''
     
	While the U.S. is continuing to impose sanctions on Myanmar to
	press the military regime, Japan and some other Asian nations are
	pursuing a policy of ''constructive engagement'' to exert influence
	over the junta toward dialogue with the NLD.
     	Although the NLD won 81 percent of the parliamentary seats in
	the 1990 elections, the ruling junta blocked them from taking
	office and confined Suu Kyi under house arrest.
     	After international pressure, including a Nobel Peace prize
	awarded to Suu Kyi, the junta released her last year.
     
	In response to her resumption of activities to encourage the
	democratic movement, however, the military regime arrested more than
	250 NLD representatives in May, ahead of Suu Kyi's planned meeting to
	commemorate the 1990 election.
     	Despite the crackdown, the meeting took place with more than
	10,000 supporters gathered at Suu Kyi's home.
     	But last week, the regime again took such action as arresting
	Suu Kyi's supporters and sentencing her personal secretary to a
	seven-year jail term, once again stirring international concern.
==Kyodo



	U.S Democrats honor Burma's Suu Kyi
    
	CHICAGO, Aug 26 (Reuter) - Burma's democracy campaigner
	Aung San Suu Kyi was honoured by the U.S. Democratic Party on
	Monday as a standard bearer for human rights in the face of
	repression by the country's military government.
    
	Suu Kyi, who refuses to leave her country for fear that
	the military will not allow her back, was given the Averell
	Harriman Democracy Award of the National Democratic Institute
	at a lunch during the party's national convention.
   
	The institute gave the award jointly to Suu Kyi and to
	former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale, now ambassador to
	Japan.

    	Presenting the award to Suu Kyi's husband, Michael Aris,
	U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright said
	the Asian state's government was 'one of the most oppressive
	and intrusive on Earth'
    
	Albright said the 'bravery and sacrifice' of Suu Kyi, a
	Nobel Peace Prize winner who was under house arrest for six
	years up to July last year, were part of a larger struggle for
	freedom across the world that was 'never easy and never
	over.'
    	Suu Kyi, in a videotaped acceptance message played to the
	audience of Democrats and invited diplomats from around the
	world, said despite the persecution of her National Democratic
	Party, her fight would continue.
    	'We remain strong in our resolve and we know that we shall
	reach the goal that we wish to reach, with the help of the
	people and the support of the international community,' she
	said.
    	Albright urged 'our friends in Asia and elsewhere who
	advocate constructive engagement (with the Burmese
	authorities) to be sure that their engagement is, in fact,
	constructive.'
    	Washington has tried to persuade states in the region to
	adopt a tougher policy toward the Burmese military rulers.
    	Mondale, a former chairman of the institute, was given the
	award for being 'a leading voice in U.S. foreign policy to
	promote human rights.'
 REUTER