Myanmar Democrats Form Committee

[tinkyi@xxxxxxx]

Wednesday September 16 7:42 PM EDT

Myanmar Democrats Form Committee

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Aung San Suu Kyi and nine members of her
pro-democracy party have formed a committee representing the arrested
lawmakers of an outlawed parliament, the party said today.

The move appeared to be an attempt to hold a session of the 459-member
parliament that was elected in 1990 but never allowed to convene.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won 82 percent of the seats, but the
military has refused to recognize the result of that election and has warned
the NLD leadership that attempting to convene parliament is illegal.

A party leader contacted by telephone would not comment on whether that was
the intention of the 10 members.

To prevent the party from convening the assembly, the military has arrested
783 opposition members, including 194 elected representatives.

The new committee claimed it had the mandate of the arrested lawmakers, and
had adopted several resolutions in their names.

Neither Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, nor party vice chairman
Tin Oo ran in the 1990 elections because they were under arrest by the
military government for their pro-democracy activities.

The government said today it had released one of the party members,
85-year-old Thakin Khin Nyunt.

Gen. Than Shwe, the leader of the government, called Suu Kyi and her
colleagues traitors in comments published in today's state-run New Light of
Myanmar newspaper.

``The internal traitors with pessimistic views are paving the way for
neocolonialists to interfere in our internal affairs,'' Than Shwe said.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, was once a British colony. The country was
isolated by its military government from 1962-88, and its leaders still view
the outside world with suspicion.