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Myanmar junta hauls Aung San Suu Ky



Myanmar junta hauls Aung San Suu Kyi's van off highway amid stand-off

       Thu 13 Aug 98 - 14:07 GMT 

       YANGON, Aug 13 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Thursday hauled a van carrying
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
       from a highway near Yangon on the second day of a roadside stand-off
with military officials, diplomats said.

       Some diplomats said the van, also carrying two drivers and an official
of her National League for Democracy
       (NLFD), had been towed to a bridge where she spent six days in another
confrontation last month.

       Others reported troops had manually lifted the vehicle and carried it
to a nearby riot police compound.

       "As far as we know she is still there, and it is just like last time,"
a western embassy official said, referring to a
       six-day stand-off which ended when the Nobel peace laureate was
forcibly taken back to her home July 29.

       In that instance, she was blocked from travelling to meet supporters
outside Yangon, and refused to budge from the
       roadside some 25 kilometres (15 miles) outside the Myanmar capital.

       She was in almost exactly the same position after again being blocked
by officials when she attempted to travel
       Wednesday, the diplomats said.

       But they added that in the latest incident she was in a mini-van rather
than a sedan, and had brought extra supplies.

       "It looks like she is getting ready to sit it out longer this time,"
another western diplomat said.

       It was Aung San Suu Kyi's fourth failed attempt to travel to meet
provincial supporters in a little over a month.

                                                                              
          ©AFP 1998

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