Myanmar Party Wants Detainees Freed

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar Party Wants Detainees Freed

 .c The Associated Press 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- The party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
demanded Friday that Myanmar's government free seven people detained when they
tried to check on her during a roadside standoff against authorities. 

The National League for Democracy also called on the military government to
give Suu Kyi back her car, one of the vehicles the seven had been using. Its
absence could make attempts to leave Yangon, the capital, more difficult. 

Suu Kyi, a 53-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, spent 13 days this month in a
mini-van on a bridge 19 miles outside of Yangon, blocked by authorities from
going farther to meet party members in the provinces. She returned to her home
Monday amid fears for her health. 

A government spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The
Associated Press in a fax that the detentions were difficult to verify because
the NLD have claimed so many members were arrested. 

``Suu Kyi's car has never been seized and I am quite surprised to hear this
story,'' the spokesman said. ``I believe her car is in her compound.'' 

One of Suu Kyi's colleagues reported she was feeling better. 

``Her blood pressure is back to normal and her health has improved,'' said NLD
Vice Chairman Tin Oo. ``She is still under medical care and is resting.'' 

The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, claimed Thursday it wants
substantive talks with the opposition. The U.S. Embassy said that it was
skeptical the government was serious. 

Myanmar's government continues to restrict Suu Kyi's political activities. 

International human rights groups, the United States, the European Union,
Japan and some of Myanmar's regional neighbors all have urged a dialogue with
her to ease political tensions. 

Suu Kyi and the NLD also have been putting low-level but concerted pressure on
the government to release political prisoners and convene a pro-democracy
parliament whose members were elected in 1990 but never allowed to meet.