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Burma opposition braces for key par
- Subject: Burma opposition braces for key par
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 17:09:00
Subject: Burma opposition braces for key party gathering
Burma opposition braces for key party gathering
03:42 a.m. May 25, 1997 Eastern
BANGKOK, May 25 (Reuter) - Burma's opposition, led by Aung
San Suu Kyi, said on Sunday it would go ahead with a party meeting
this week despite the detention of 192 members by the ruling
military.
``We are all waiting to see what happens tonight and tomorrow to
see if the authorities will stop the planned party meeting in Aung San
Suu Kyi's (house) compound,'' a senior leader of the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) told Reuters.
``So far there have been no new detentions that we heard of in
addition to the 192 we know of,'' he said in Rangoon.
The party gathering set for May 27-28 is planned to coincide with
the seventh anniversary of the NLD's landslide 1990 election victory
which the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
never recognised.
The NLD has had few opportunities to gather in a large group since
it won the 1990 election as the military has thwarted previous
attempts.
The SLORC has denied that it detained any NLD members and
labelled the party's claim a fabrication. It has also asked the NLD to
prove the detentions.
A government spokesman said last week, however, that some NLD
members had been requested by local authorities to refrain from
acting in such a way as to create chaos in the country.
The NLD claimed that those detained were either restricted to their
homes or confined at specific places.
Despite the detentions, other senior NLD members who managed to
reach the party headquarters in Rangoon had discussed its political,
economic, legal and justice reports as planned ahead of a general
meeting set for May 27-28, the senior NLD official said.
Aung San Suu Kyi was not available for comment.
The NLD official said that security around Suu Kyi's lakeside
residence at University Avenue was tight but some party members
were able to visit her after stringent checks.
``So far they have not detained any Rangoon township NLD
members but we don't know if this is a sign that they may allow the
party congress to go on,'' he added.
NLD officials said that even if the planned meeting was stopped by
the authorities on Tuesday, senior party members who had not been
detained by the authorities had met in the capital late last week had
already agreed on various strategies.
``We predicted this situation a bit earlier and therefore managed to
hold discussions in advance on some papers intended to be read at
the formal (May 27) meeting,'' said a Rangoon division NLD
member of parliament.
The United States, Japan and some European nations have
condemned the latest detentions and called on the SLORC to
immediately and unconditionally free those NLD members held.
Last year, 261 party members, mostly MPs, were arrested ahead of
a similar gathering. But the meeting took place anyway and Suu Kyi
announced the NLD planned to continue its efforts to bring
democracy to Burma despite the crackdowns.
Although the SLORC released most of the NLD members it arrested
last May, some were charged and given long jail terms. Others,
mainly MPs, were forced to sign papers saying they would resign
from the party. ^REUTER@