Rugent: Suu Kyi Again Blocked Today

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar Pro-Democracy Chief Blocked

 .c The Associated Press 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was
blocked today when she left her home to meet members of her political party
outside the capital, defying the country's military regime. 

Suu Kyi, head of the National League for Democracy, was headed for Bassein,
100 miles west of Yangon, when she was stopped at the same roadblock where she
was held up for six days last month, sources in Myanmar's government and her
party said. 

Authorities ended that standoff, 19 miles west of the capital, on July 29 when
they seized her car, forcibly restrained her and drove her back to her home. 

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, is largely confined to her home
and has little political maneuvering room. She has recently stepped up
challenges to the government of Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

During the previous standoff, she had taken food and water with her, but
supplies eventually ran out. The authorities refused to let her buy fresh
supplies and prevented her party members and doctors from giving her food and
water and she suffered high fever and dehydration, her party members have
said. 

On today's trip, Suu Kyi was accompanied by Hla Pe, a 75-year-old member of
her party's central executive committee, and one or two drivers. 

In apparent preparation for another standoff, she was traveling in a friend's
van instead of the Toyota sedan she had used on previous trips. The van would
allow more comfort for an extended stay and be able to carry more food and
water. 

The foray was her fourth attempt in two months to drive outside Yangon. 

The military has allowed Suu Kyi to travel outside Yangon only once - to visit
a Buddhist monk - since releasing her from six years of formal house arrest in
July 1995. 

Suu Kyi recently gave the military an Aug. 21 deadline to seat the parliament
elected in a 1990 general election. 

The military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, allowed the election to go
forward but refused to honor the result when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide
victory. 

Since September 1996, the government has installed police checkpoints near Suu
Kyi's lakeside compound, refusing journalists entry and restricting access by
diplomats and her party members. 

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said after Suu Kyi's last standoff
that the United States would hold the government directly responsible for her
welfare. 

On Saturday, Myanmar marked the 10th anniversary of a nationwide uprising
against military rule. It was eventually crushed by troops. An estimated 3,000
people died. 

AP-NY-08-12-98 0522EDT