BBC-Burma opposition to convene 'pa

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Friday, August 21, 1998 Published at 14:53 GMT 15:53 UK 

Burma opposition to convene 'parliament' 

The main opposition party in Burma, the National League for Democracy, says
it will convene a parliamentary gathering of the country's principal ethnic
groups within the next few days. 

A parliament was elected in 1990, but Burma's military authorities have
never allowed it to meet. 

The NLD leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, had set Friday as the deadline for the
military to convene the parliament. 

Before the NLD's latest announcement, one government newspaper said Ms Suu
Kyi should be deported and her party declared illegal. 

The BBC South East Asia correspondent says that despite opposition talk,
the evidence on the ground suggests that the army remains very much in
control, with the regime jailing, torturing and intimidating some of the
opposition supporters. 

But despite rumours of protest, the Burmese may be too frightened to take
to the streets, fearing a repeat of bloodshed 10 years ago when thousands
of people are thought to have died in clashes with the military. 


Suu Kyi continues sit-in 

The party's leader, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has spent
the last 10 days protesting against a government order preventing her from
travelling out of the capital, Rangoon, to meet party supporters. 

She has remained parked in her van, 32km south-west of the capital after
soldiers blocked her way. Recently her health was described as "frail",
though her morale was said to be still good. 

In newspaper comment columns usually given over to denouncing Ms Suu Kyi,
the state-controlled press has urged people not to be disturbed by rumours
which it said were designed to cause civil unrest and anti-government
riots. 

Possibly in an attempt to defuse any plans for protest, the military has
held the first talks with members of the NLD for more than a year. Ms Suu
Kyi was not present. 

The NLD has described the military's previous attempts at discussion as
insincere.