Aung San Suu Kyi maintains stand-of

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Aung San Suu Kyi maintains stand-off on eve of D-day with Myanmar junta

       Thu 20 Aug 98 - 12:01 GMT 

       YANGON, Aug 20 (AFP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent
a ninth day Thursday in a stand-off
       with the country's junta on the eve of a day of reckoning between the
bitter foes and amid warnings of unrest.

       "It's fairly precarious," said one western diplomat, ahead of the Nobel
peace laureate's Friday deadline for the junta
       to convene parliament or face unspecified consequences.

       Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has demanded the
parliament elected in 1990 be
       convened by Friday. The opposition won the polls by a landslide but the
junta has refused to relinquish power.

       Violence was not expected after the deadline expired, but diplomats
said the NLD would lose credibility both
       domestically and internationally if it failed to follow through on its
ultimatum.

       "Unless the stand-off with Aung San Suu Kyi is resolved by August 21,
any plans already in train will proceed and
       we conclude that will mean distrubances or events of some kind,"
another western diplomat said.

       "They have emphasised this deadline to such a degree that they cannot
afford to let it pass."

       Yangon markets are abuzz with rumours that unrest will erupt if the
junta fails to convene parliament. There have
       also been widespread rumours of the impending release of key political
prisoners following the meeting.

       But officials from both the government and the NLD say the role of Aung
San Suu Kyi remains a sticking point.

       "She is not officially recognised as a political figure," said an Asian
diplomat. "So even if they bring the NLD into a
       new government, they can't accept her without losing face."

       Aung San Suu Kyi was Thursday spending her ninth day in a minibus
parked on a small bridge 25 kilometres (15
       miles) from Yangon after being blocked from travelling to meet
provincial supporters.

       "She is not moving but we think she will be back before the deadline,"
said one of the foreign envoys.

       The NLD on Wednesday urged the public to support the convening of
parliament, saying democracy was in the
       interests of the country's 45 million people.

       "A democratic parliament is aware of all citizens," it said in an open
letter. "The NLD and other elected members of
       parliament have a duty to fulfill the people's desire. The officially
elected MPs need public support to carry out
       their duties."

       In Bangkok, some 30 exiled Myanmar students maintained their vigil
outside the Myanmar embassy to support the
       call for parliament to be convened.

       Myanmar's currency has hit new lows amid the rising political tensions.

       The kyat was trading around 380 to the dollar in Yangon on Thursday but
had crashed through the 400 mark in some
       parts of the country, dealers added.

       The black market rate was around 150 to the dollar before Asia became
embroiled in an economic crisis last July.
       The official rate is six kyat to the dollar but is almost totally
ignored.

       Several money changers, who are licensed by the country's junta in a de
facto endorsement of the black market trade,
       have been detained this week and intelligence agents were posted at
several exchanges.

       "I went to change some dollars but a Burmese guy I know said there were
intel people out the back of the shop and
       that we should go away," said one foreigner visiting the capital.

       A foreign diplomat said the government was trying to reign in the
currency by force but forecast it would fall further.

       "They can't really control it," the diplomat added.

       "The detentions and putting intelligence agents into the exchanges is
meant to stop the trade. But they can't stop it
       forever.

       "With the kyat at this level, no-one can afford to buy dollars anyway."

       The junta was also becoming more cautious of foreign journalists,
quizzing applicants for tourist visas in Bangkok
       about possible links with the media and forcing some to sign
declarations they were not journalists, applicants and
       other sources said.

       "They are telling people they know they are journalists, asking all
sorts of questions and making them sign these
       documents if they want to get visas," said one Bangkok executive whose
associate was attempting to travel to
       Myanmar.

       One applicant said they had been told by embassy officials that they
knew they were a journalist because they had
       been seen on television.

       Foreign diplomats in Yangon said scores of foreign journalists had
descended on the city amid escalating political
       tensions, with all but a few arriving on tourist visas. Journalists who
have applied for official visas in recent weeks
       have been refused.

       Some journalists had also been briefly detained in Yangon and forced to
sign documents saying they did not work
       for news organisations, the diplomats added.

       The junta has separately expelled two journalists this week -- one
French and one Italian -- saying the pair had
       broken the law by declaring themselves as tourists.

                                                                              
          ©AFP 1998

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