Reuters-FOCUS-Yangon says Suu Kyi p

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

FOCUS-Yangon says Suu Kyi party ``Number One Enemy'' 
08:58 a.m. Aug 17, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 

YANGON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military rulers issued thinly veiled
threats against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party on Monday
in an apparent attempt to get her to call off her six-day roadside protest.


Having sent a parasol, cakes and drinks to Suu Kyi's protest site and set
up a mobile bathroom ``to ensure her maximum comfort and welfare'' last
week, the government on Monday denounced her National League for Democracy
(NLD) as the ``Number One Enemy.'' 

``Anyone going counter to the public will not live long,'' all three
Myanmar state-owned newspapers said in a commentary. 

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, and three companions have
been stuck in a minivan on a bridge at Anyarsu, about 30 km (20 miles)
southwest of Yangon, since Wednesday. 

Authorities have refused to let them proceed to visit supporters in Pathein
township, about 60 km (100 miles) further to the west and they in turn have
refused demands to return to Yangon. 

Diplomats say the standoff is designed by the NLD to focus world attention
on its demand that the government convene a parliament of members elected
at polls in 1990 by August 21. 

The NLD won the election by a landslide but the military ignored the
result. 

Suu Kyi's protest follows a similar six-day standoff which was ended
forcibly by the military on July 29. 

The government says she can remain in Anyarsu ``as long as conditions
remain safe'' but cannot go to Pathein as this would mean travelling in a
dangerous part of the country. 

It has ignored pressure from abroad to cede power to the NLD and has
ridiculed the party's ultimatum and roadside protests by sending gifts
including a beach umbrella. 

Diplomats say the government's strategy appears to be to try to minimise
the impact of Suu Kyi's protest by making it look like a camping holiday. 

``Ms Suu Kyi, U Hla Pe and their two chauffeurs are continuing taking rest
in a camping vehicle near Anyarsu, a small but picturesque village outside
Yangon,'' it said in a statement on Monday. 

It said officials had provided Suu Kyi with fresh fruit for breakfast while
the others enjoyed ``the famous Anyarsu noodles and tea'' each morning at a
nearby restaurant. 

However, the NLD's central executive committee said the authorities had
provided no food and the protesters' supplies might no longer be
sufficient. 

A statement from the committee expressed concern for their health and said
the NLD had asked Prime Minister General Than Shwe for permission to send
Suu Kyi's doctor to her. It said the authorities would be responsible for
the protesters' health. 

Suu Kyi suffered dehydration after the last standoff. 

The commentaries in the New Light of Myanmar and other newspapers accused
``internal destructionists'' of working against the national interest and
added: ``The people can regard the National League for Democracy as Number
One Enemy.'' 

Diplomats say they believe Suu Kyi is still in the minivan but there have
been no independent witnesses of the protest. 

Photographs obtained by Reuters late on Saturday showed her grey van next
to a small wooden bridge on a country road, next to a yellow parasol, a
white table and two garden chairs. 

The van, sliding side door open but curtains drawn, was close to a thatched
hut at what appeared to be a check-point. 

The pictures showed no sign of Suu Kyi or her companions. 

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright backed Suu Kyi's
defiance of travel restrictions as an assertion of basic rights and
Australia at the weekend called on Myanmar to open up and bring in
democratic reforms. 

Separately, two exiled Myanmar opposition activists renounced asylum in
Japan and said on Monday they would return home, citing a positive change
in Myanmar's military rule. 

Win Naing and Mya Mya Win, formerly leaders of the Burmese Association in
Japan (BAIJ), called a news conference in Tokyo to announce their decision
to surrender their refugee status.