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Reuters : Myanmar eases blockade ne



Myanmar eases blockade near Suu Kyi's house 
07:44 a.m. Aug 01, 1998 Eastern 

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military lifted a road blockade that
stopped supporters of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from seeing her
Friday and early Saturday, witnesses said. 

The witnesses said a small group of members of Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy (NLD) was allowed access to the compound of her lakeside
residence in central Yangon but they could not estimate the number of
people seeing her. 

Suu Kyi was recovering from dehydration after a six-day sit-in protest in
her car at a village on the outskirts of Yangon. On Wednesday night,
security personnel forcibly removed the opposition leader from the car and
sent her back home, a move the NLD called a criminal act. 

Security personnel had stopped the car carrying Suu Kyi and three
associates on July 24 and kept them from going to the western township of
Pathein to meet supporters. They told Suu Kyi to return to Yangon, but she
refused and began a sit-in to protest against the restrictions on her
freedom of travel. 

Suu Kyi sent word to a news conference held by the NLD on Thursday that she
would go out again as soon as she was well enough to travel. 

A government statement on Friday said Myanmar was not ready yet to meet Suu
Kyi's demand for freedom to exercise political rights until the unity of
the 135 ethnic groups in the nation became stronger and people's basic
needs were met. 

The United States and Australia on Friday asked the United Nations to push
Myanmar's military government to start dialogue with Suu Kyi. 

Commuters passing an intersection near the University Avenue leading to Suu
Kyi's house said about 10 anti-riot policemen deployed in the area earlier
in the morning had pulled out. 

Witnesses said a previous no-entry signpost near the junction was also
relocated deeper on the University Avenue to a spot closer to her
residence. They said the change gave the area a more relaxed atmosphere. 

``The traffic at the intersection was smooth with only one traffic
policeman seen there,'' a local resident said, adding that public buses
resuming making regular stops near the junction. 

Witnesses said up to 100 NLD members had been turned back at a checkpoint
near the junction on Friday as they tried to pass it on their way to meet
Suu Kyi. 

Local residents said on Saturday they saw no signs that the government had
tightened security enforcement around the NLD headquarters about a
five-minute drive from Suu Kyi's house.