Reuters : Pressure mounts on Suu Ky

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Pressure mounts on Suu Kyi ahead of anniversary 
06:59 a.m. Aug 07, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 

YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government stepped up
pressure on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday ahead of the
10-year anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners. 

Witnesses said the number of government security guards at Suu Kyi's Yangon
home was doubled to about 15 in the morning, a day after she had demanded
the military leave the lakeside compound. 

The Myanmar-language Myanma Ahlin newspaper, a key mouthpiece of the ruling
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), also warned Suu Kyi in a
commentary on Friday to ``give up ill intentions'' this month. 

Witnesses said there had been six or seven guards at Suu Kyi's house before
the reinforcements arrived. 

``The guards refused to leave her house and instead they have deployed
eight more men on the property this morning,'' said one, who declined to be
identified. 

``They are stationed behind the main gate and apparently plan to be there
for some time,'' confirmed a Yangon-based diplomat. 

The confrontation over the guards comes on the eve of the anniversary of an
uprising of pro-democracy activists which was brutally suppressed on August
8, 1988. 

Opposition figures say as many as 8,000 people were killed in the
subsequent nationwide crackdown. The government says the toll was no more
than a few dozen. 

Although Myanmar dissidents abroad have vowed to mark the anniversary
around the world, it is uncertain how Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy party (NLD) will commemorate the day inside the country. 

But the Myanma Ahlin editorial was plain in its warning against agitation. 

``Aung San Suu Kyi should not take advantage of the government's patience
and magnanimity,'' it said. ``You shouldn't let yourself go beyond the law,
no matter how great the external incitement is,'' it added. 

Witnesses said the SPDC was continuing to allow supporters to enter Suu
Kyi's lakeside residence but the identities of all visitors were rigorously
checked. 

The opposition is expected to use the anniversary as a platform to campaign
for the government to convene a parliament of members elected at a poll in
May 1990. 

The NLD won the election by an overwhelming margin but the result was
ignored by the military government. 

Guards have been posted in Suu Kyi's compound since the daughter of
Myanmar's late national hero and founding father Aung San was released from
six years of house arrest in 1995. 

At the time the Nobel laureate said she wanted the guards on the premises
to guarantee her safety, but her party said on Thursday Suu Kyi had
officially asked them to be removed. 

The NLD did not say why the guards had been asked to go but the request was
made shortly after a six-day car protest by Suu Kyi was forcibly ended by
government security men. 

Government officials were unavailable for immediate comment on Friday, but
a government spokesman said on Thursday that the guards were in the grounds
to protect Suu Kyi. 

``She is more than a politician. She is the daughter of our national hero
and there are some organizations that are out to create instability and the
government leaders don't want anything to happen to her,'' the SPDC
spokesman told Reuters. 

Suu Kyi's father, who led the country's independence struggle in the 1940s,
was assassinated in 1947. Burma gained independence from Britain the
following year. 

Although Suu Kyi was released from house arrest three years ago, her
movements are closely monitored and all her visitors must sign in with the
guards at the gate before meeting her. 

Suu Kyi has used her lack of freedom as a weapon against the government,
escaping from the military's security cordon around her house three times
in recent weeks.