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Burma's Suu Kyi on 1st political tr (r)



 
                                 Burma's Suu Kyi on 1st political trip since
                                 release
                                 03:34 a.m. Oct 23, 1997 Eastern 

                                 RANGOON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Burmese opposition
                                 leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week travelled
on her
                                 first political trip outside the capital
since being released
                                 from house arrest two years ago, opposition
sources
                                 said on Thursday. 

                                 A division-level official of Suu Kyi's
National League
                                 for Democracy (NLD) party said the 1991 Nobel
                                 Peace laureate went to a town on the
outskirts of
                                 Rangoon on Tuesday to organise the youth
NLD wing
                                 and speak to supporters. 

                                 ``Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, accompanied by NLD
                                 Chairman U Tin Oo, central executive committee
                                 member...U Soe Myint and some elected NLD
                                 representatives, went to Thakata Township...on
                                 Tuesday morning,'' a divisional level NLD
official told
                                 Reuters. 

                                 He said Suu Kyi's trip went off without any
interference
                                 from authorities. The NLD won a landslide
victory in a
                                 1990 election but the military government
refused to
                                 recognise the results. 

                                 Suu Kyi, who was officially released from
six years of
                                 house arrest in July 1995, has been under tight
                                 surveillance since last December. Her
visitors are
                                 limited, her telephone is cut and her movements
                                 restricted. 

                                 She made several aborted attempts,
including a widely
                                 publicised train trip to Mandalay, to leave
Rangoon on
                                 political business after being released
from house arrest.
                                 The trip to Mandalay was abandoned after
the train
                                 broke down. 

                                 She was advised by officials not to travel
outside her
                                 lakeside home -- which has become the party's
                                 headquarters over the past two years -- for
party work.

                                 The government has severely limited
activities by the
                                 NLD, stopping several large party
congresses, by
                                 arresting thousands of NLD officials over
the past few
                                 years. 

                                 Suu Kyi says the government has also
prevented local
                                 party offices across the country from doing
their work
                                 by pressuring NLD officials and threatening
them with
                                 arrest. 

                                 Authorities put up barricades blocking
access to Suu
                                 Kyi's house and the road leading to it in
late 1996. This
                                 put an end to popular weekend gatherings
outside Suu
                                 Kyi's home which drew up to 10,000 people who
                                 gathered to hear Suu Kyi and other top NLD
officials
                                 speak. 

                                 Local analysts said Suu Kyi's visit to
Thakata could be
                                 a sign of improved relations between the
ruling State
                                 Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
and the
                                 NLD. 

                                 ``We can say there is still hope for
understanding to
                                 grow between the NLD and the SLORC,'' one
analyst
                                 said. ``Maybe this is a sign of relaxation
of the
                                 SLORC's control over the NLD.'' 

                                 He noted that the SLORC allowed the NLD to
hold a
                                 large party gathering at Suu Kyi's house in
late
                                 September to mark the party's ninth
anniversary. The
                                 meeting the previous year had been stymied
by the
                                 government. ^MORE@