[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Khin Nyut says Suu Kyi's party a th



General says Suu Kyi's party threatens

02:37 a.m. Nov 06, 1997 Eastern

RANGOON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A senior Burmese general said Aung San Suu Kyi
and her National League for Democracy were inciting riots and pushing the
country into an abyss, state-run media reported on Thursday.

``They are pushing the nation toward the abyss as in the case of the
pre-1962 period,'' the official papers quoted Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt, Secretary One of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), as saying in a speech on Wednesday.

In 1962 the military overthrew the democratic government of U Nu and seized
 power. The military has ruled ever since, with different leaders.

Khin Nyunt said the league's recent efforts to hold party meetings in some
townships outside Rangoon were illegal and made to oppose the government.

``It is shameful for patriots to see the attempts to destabilise the nation
 in order to trap the government in a tight corner, to disrupt the rule of
law and incite riots,'' he said. ``They are doing so with the sole aim of
gaining power.''

The league lashed out at the government on Wednesday for restricting party
activities and the movements of Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi.

It said Suu Kyi had been prevented from leaving her home on Wednesday. It
also denounced the government for preventing party meetings over the past
two weeks which were meant to organise its youth wing.

Two political gatherings outside Rangoon had been blocked by authorities,
some equipped with clubs and shields, who set up roadblocks and carted off
supporters to prevent the meetings, the party said.

Eight senior officials of Suu Kyi's party were also arrested last week in
connection with the meetings, the party has said.

The SLORC retorted, saying Suu Kyi was rigid and uncompromising and had
caused unnecessary setbacks for Burma in its transition towards democracy.

Khin Nyunt's speech went along the same lines, saying Burma's image was in
danger of being tarnished around the world due to threats started by groups
 like the National League for Democracy.

Burma has been widely criticised for human rights abuses and for failing to
 hold talks with Suu Kyi.

Her party won a landslide victory in a 1990 election but the SLORC never
recognised the result.

REUTER  ^MORE@