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

Focus on Burma : Old political foes



BANGKOK, Aug 2 (AFP) - Myanmar will come under even closer international
scrutiny this week with a security clampdown ahead of the 10th anniversary
of bloody street demonstrations.

Heavily armed troops have been stationed at strategic junctions around the
capital, Yangon, in the past few days in a bid to smother dissent in a month
many expect to test the patience of the military government.

The US, Australian and New Zealand embassies on Friday asked for top-level
United Nations intervention to force the country's military leaders into a
genuine dialogue with its democratically elected government.

August 8 is the decade anniversary of a military crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrators which left thousands dead, according to unofficial tallies.

Although diplomats and analysts see little opportunity for democracy
advocates to exploit the anniversary, more is expected on August 21 when
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has said the junta must
convene parliament or face unspecified consequences.

The NLD-led opposition won 1990 polls by a landslide but the junta has
refused to relinquish power.

Saturday's anniversary will be an emotional occasion for students, many of
whom took part in what is known as the "8/8/88 uprising" but have since been
denied even the right to study following the closure of colleges in December
1996.

International human rights groups say some students are still held prisoner
in Yangon's Insein prison, while hundreds more have gone into hiding since
the crackdown.

Others have joined resistance groups such as the All Burma Students Front
(ABSDF), which the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) accuses
of terrorism and plots to destabilise the country.

But the escalation in tensions ahead of the anniversary has not been the
work of the junta nor the students.

It was sparked by Aung San Suu Kyi's decision to try to meet provincial
party officials, a move seen as an open challenge to the junta's authority
and a signal of a change in strategy within the NLD.

The Nobel prize laureate was blocked for six days last week on a country
bridge 26 kilometres (15 miles) from Yangon while trying to get to a meeting
with provincial supporters. Her food supplies had run out and fears had been
expressed for her health when the junta late Wednesday forced her from the
car and drove her back to the capital.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who was reportedly suffering from dehydration and a fever,
demanded the release of jailed supporters and a date for direct talks with
the junta.

"I shall continue to go out of Yangon again and again as soon as I recover
until these conditions are met," she was quoted as saying by a spokesman.

It was her third attempt to speak to provincial party members in recent
weeks and follows a military ban on NLD officials leaving their local areas,
a ban Aung San Suu Kyi has told supporters to ignore.

Other than marking a departure from the NLD strategy of avoiding direct
confrontation, the new tactic of open disobedience has brought the
international spotlight back on Myanmar.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan plans to send assistant secretary general
for political affairs Alvaro de Soto to Myanmar in September or October.

On Friday and Saturday, Western powers including Britain, France and the
European Union admonished the military council for its "callous" treatment
of Aung San Suu Kyi during her roadside stand-off.

The United States condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the forcible
end to her six-day protest.