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Canada, the United States and key a



Canada, the United States and key allies pressured Myanmar's Military
regime Tuesday to end a highway impasse between a democratic activist
and
security forces.

The confrontation wrapped up a conference of Asian and Western nations
in
the Philippine capital.

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi marked her sixth day stuck in a car
Wednesday , surrounded by security officers on a highway outside Rangoon
,
Burma. Suu Kyi , an aide and two drivers were stopped by the government
Friday morning 30 Km outside the capital as they attempted to drive to
the
provincial city of Bassein to meet other party members.
" Aung San Suu Kyi should be able to travel freely in her own country "
said U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright. " We hope very much that

there will be a resolution to the issue."

In a tense conference, delegates from Canada, the United States, New
Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Korea and the European Union confronted

Myanmar Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw over the crisis.
They also delegated U.S., Australian and Japanese diplomats in the
capital
of the country formally known as Burma to try to meet with the democracy

activist.

" It was the toughest meeting I've been in for a while because we really

laid it on the line, " said Canada's Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy.
The foreign ministers didn't raise any threats against the military
ruled
government of Myanmar. But the meeting showed there was broad
international
support for Suu Kyi, Axworthy said.

In Geneva, U N human rights chief Mary Robinson called the standoff "
the
latest in what appears to be a developing pattern of restriction of (
Suu
Kyi's ) rights to freedom of movement ."
Suu Kyi has been blocked from traveling outside the capital three times
this month. The military has accused her of fomenting unrest and
agitating
against the government.

Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in a 1990 election but was never

allowed to take power. Suu Kyi was put under six years of house arrest
and
released in July 1995. She won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her
nonviolent campaign for democracy.


United States, Japan and other countries did not announce any new aid
packages for the region and said that while they will continue to help,
Southeast Asian countries themselves must persevere with painful
political
and economic reforms if they are to recover from their current economic
troubles.

Edited from the " Edmonton Journal "
Wednesday, July 29, 1998

Personally and on behalf of Burma Watch International ( a society for
human
right ), I would like to support the Australian Burma Council ( ABC )
calls
for media and diplomatic presence in Burma.
We would like to appeal to the diplomats in Rangoon to continue an
increasing presence around Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

As a personal Physician to her ( until she was put under house arrest )
, I
am deeply concern for her health and safety. May I call upon
International
organizations , Human Right groups , Amnesty International , to help us
People in Burma and to urge the military authorities to allow Aung San
Suu
Kyi and her party to proceed with their desired trip peacefully before
their health is severely affected.

Khin Saw Win
University of Alberta