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NYT: Burmese Junta Says Democracy L



Subject: NYT: Burmese Junta Says Democracy Leader Aids Subversion

By:  Seth Mydans
Yangon, Myanmar, Sept. 2 --  The military Government today accused the leader 
of the democratic opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of collaborating with 
subversive, including American citizens.  Steps will be taken against her "if 
and when required," officials of the junta said.
Addressing foreign reporters for the first time since they released Mrs. Aung 
San Suu Kyi from house arrest 13 months ago, a panel of high-ranking officials 
accused her of having secret contacts with illegal groups abroad that were 
trying to overthrow the Government, coordinating activities with them and 
accepting subversive materials from them.
The officials dismissed as unimportant a threat by the United States to impose 
economic sanctions against Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, if strong measures 
were taken against Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi or her followers.
"That's not the concern of our country, but of the United States citizens," 
said the Foreign Minister, U Ohn Gyaw.
Today's news conference was a departure for the secretive military leadership, 
which has until now let the public relations field open to the articulate and 
charismatic opposition leader, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in the 1991 for 
her defiance of them.
A newly formed five-member information committee of military officers and 
ministers gave little ground as they faced sometimes harsh questions about 
their Government's record on human rights and the limitations it places on 
personal freedoms.
Col. Kyaw Thein, a high-ranking military intelligence official, identified 
three Americans who he said had conducted workshops in "political defiance" for 
insurgents and expatriate groups in Thailand and India.
He said they had been teaching "techniques of civil disobedience, civil unrest 
and political education and sedition."  He said he did not know whether these 
involved violent or nonviolent activities, but he said underground Burmese 
groups were actively working to topple the Government.
"Suu Kyi and her party, knowing full well that what these people are doing is 
unlawful, have held negotiations, discussions and consultations and have 
cooperated with them in their activities," the colonel said, "sometimes openly 
and sometimes through secret contacts, and have been a party to the 
transgressions of these people."
Asked if the Government was planning to take action against Mrs. Aung San Suu 
Kyi, he said, "Necessary or appropriate measures will be taken if and when 
required."
Colonel Kyaw Thein said the subversive materials she had received included an 
outline for creating a parallel government as well as a videotape of the movie 
"Beyond Rangoon," which depicts the terror and bloodshed of the military 
crackdown in 1988 against a widespread pro-democracy uprising.
He asserted that continuing arrests of her supporters - which Mrs. Aung San Suu 
Kyi described at her own news conference on Saturday - were connected to these 
foreign-based subversive activities.  He said 20 to 30 people were still being 
held from a roundup of more than 250 of her supporters in May; Mrs. Aung San 
Suu Kyi said 61 more people had been arrested since that time.
Democratic freedoms including political opposition can cause instability, 
Colonel Kyaw Thein said, and must be put on hold while Myanmar focuses on 
economic progress.
"What happened in 1988 started with just a simple demonstration and reached to 
nearly utter devastation of our country," he said.  "We have learned that 
lesson, and we don't want these things to come up again.  Sometimes, with the 
pretense of human rights and democracy, things can go bad for our country.  We 
cannot allow this happen."
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy, won 
85 percent of the seats in Parliament in a free election in 1990.  Caught off 
guard by the results, the military leadership refused to convene the newly 
elected Parliament and instead created a convention to draw up a new 
constitution.  The convention has been in an expended recess since April.
Colonel Kyaw Thein said the convention had completed the bulk of its work, but 
he would not say when it might reconvene and said no date had been set for the 
completion of the constitution or for the new elections that the junta has 
promised.
Last November, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's party withdrew from the constitution 
convention, saying it was clear that the document would not represent the 
interests of the people.  In May she announced that her party would draw up its 
own draft constitution, an act the Government declared would be illegal.
Reports about the work of the constitutional convention suggest that it will 
enshrine a continued dominant role for the military and may ban people who are 
married to foreigners from holding Government office.  Mrs. Aung Sun Suu Kyi is 
married to a British professor, Michael Aris.
Colonel Kyaw Thein said the "subversive activities" of the Americans - 
including one former member of the unites States Embassy here - constituted "an 
outright infringement of our sovereignty."  But Mr. Ohn Gyaw said no protest 
had been lodged with the American Government because no Burmese citizen had 
made a formal complaint with the police.
Colonel Kyaw Thein said, "These aliens and mercenaries are trying to create 
chaos and confusion in Myanmar in order to destabilize the situation in the 
country on the one hand, while lining their pockets and getting rich from 
donations they obtain on the pretext of working for a good cause."
Coffee and cake were served after the new conference, which was billed as a 
monthly briefing, and the atmosphere was cordial despite the Government's 
frequent attacks on the Western press in the past and the sometimes sharp 
questioning today.
At one point, a reporter asked whether the military leaders were prepared to 
face trial under a future democratic government, recalling the recent death 
sentence handed down in South Korea to former President Chun Doo Whan for his 
role in a massacre of demonstrators in Kwangju.
"I think your question is not relevant either at this grouping or as a matter 
of your personal speculation, " Mr. Ohn Gyaw said.  "I don't need to answer it."