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AFP: DASSK to be given freedom of D



Subject: AFP: DASSK to be given freedom of Dublin

Myanmar opposition leader to be given freedom of Dublin
   
   DUBLIN, Nov 2 (AFP) - Myanmar pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi is
to get Dublin's highest accolade, the freedom of the city, Mayor Mary
Freehill said Tuesday. The city council also decided unanimously to award
the honour to the four members of the rock group U2 and their manager for
their contribution to life in Dublin.
   Freehill said a special meeting of the council to confer the honours
would take place later this year. She said Aung San Suu Kyi, who was the
1991 Nobel Peace laureate, would be sent a special city scroll after the
ceremony.
   "But of course we hope that she will eventually be able to come to
Dublin herself to sign the special book we have for all the people who have
been presented with the freedom of the city."
   Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 1990 elections
by a landslide, but the military refused to allow parliament to convene and
launched a long-running campaign of repression against the NLD.
   "It was decided to give the award for her bravery in standing up for
democracy and the fact that they had won the election and had not been
allowed to lead the government of the country," Freehill said.
   The members of U2 -- Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton --
and manager Paul McGuinness are all Dublin-born and have continued to live
in the city. They will join a distinguished roll dating back to 1876 that
includes US presidents Ulysses Grant, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton,
South Africa's Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and playwright
George Bernard Shaw.


Thin Myat Thu (Thida)                                  Tel: + 47 22 414143
Senior Features Producer                               Fax: + 47 22 413929
Democratic Voice of Burma                     http://www.communique.no/dvb