Myanmar readies jail for Suu Kyi, s

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

 Myanmar readies jail for Suu Kyi, says opposition 
06:04 a.m. Jul 02, 1998 Eastern 

By Sutin Wannabovorn 

BANGKOK, July 2 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military is preparing a special cell
in its notorious Insein prison for opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi, days after threatening to take legal action
against her, opposition sources said on Thursday. 

But Yangon-based diplomats said the threat of legal action may be mere
psychological warfare, with neither the junta nor the opposition really
intending to step over established battle lines. 

``According to informed sources from Insein Prison in Rangoon (Yangon), a
special detached house located in the women's section of the prison was
being renovated last week, believed to be for Burma's pro-democracy leader
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,'' the exiled All Burma Students' Democratic Front
said in a statement. 

Military spokesmen were not immediately available to comment. 

Insein was the prison where scores of pro-democracy protesters were
tortured and killed by the military after it seized power in a bloody coup
in September 1988. 

The renovation started immediately after Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD) party sent a letter to the ruling State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) demanding that the junta convene a parliament by
August 2 in accordance with the results of aborted 1990 elections. 

The NLD swept the election, but its victory was never recognised by the
military. 

The two sides have since been at political loggerheads, with the opposition
accusing the military of abusing human rights and curbing its activities. 



For the first time since the May 1990 election, the military allowed the
NLD to hold a gathering on May 27 in Suu Kyi's Yangon home to mark the
eighth anniversary of the polls victory. Analysts believed then that this
pointed to a warming of ties between the two sides. 

But at the gathering, Suu Kyi launched a fresh political offensive and
demanded that parliament be convened. 

The military government bluntly rejected the NLD demand, saying that the
convening of parliament was impossible until the National Convention of
delegates, hand-picked by the military for the purpose, had drafted a new
constitution for the country. 

It also accused Suu Kyi of obstructing the convention's work. 

``The Myanmar government and its people can no longer tolerate the acts of
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who ignores the interest of the nation and people,''
the government warned in commentaries run in all three state-run Myanmar
newspapers. 

They said that those who obstructed the convention's functions faced five
to 20 years jail. 

State media also ran similar warnings in 1989 shortly before Suu Kyi was
placed under six years of house arrest. 

``The government made similar threats to her prior to her house arrest in
1989, but things have changed now. There are other factors now, especially
pressure from Japan, which has barred SPDC from taking action against
her,'' a Yangon-based diplomat said. 



The Japanese government recently threatened to withdraw financial support
for the SPDC if it continued to delay completion of the new charter, the
diplomat added. 

The military established the National Convention in early 1993 and claims
that two thirds of the new charter has been completed, but has set no time
frame for its completion. The convention has also not met for some time
now. 

``I think this fresh threat may be merely psychological warfare where both
parties pay lip service but no action is taken,'' the diplomat said. 

Another diplomatic source also said some tension between the junta and the
NLD was building up in Yangon, but the chances of the SPDC taking action
against Suu Kyi may be slim.