Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD lead

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

[THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THIS WIRE AND AN AP
WIRE EARLIER TODAY WHICH SAID THAT U TIN OO HAD
BEEN DETAINED IN A GOVERNMENT "GUESTHOUSE" -- DA]

Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders placed under house arrest

AFP, Rangoon,  22 September 2000. Aung San Suu Kyi and members
of her party's central executive committee were placed under a de
facto house arrest again Friday after being removed from Yangon
train station early in the morning, official sources said.

National League for Democracy (NLD) head Aung San Suu Kyi,
deputy party leader Tin Oo and other party leaders were confined
to their houses on "temporary detention," a government source
said.

The NLD leaders will not be allowed to leave their homes for the
time being, and no diplomats or journalists will be allowed to visit
them.

While the NLD leaders have not been charged with any crime and
they are not officially under house arrest, military intelligence
officers were posted around their houses preventing them from going
outside, the source said.

These measures are necessary "to prevent further confrontation"
between the NLD and the military regime, he said.

The source gave no word on when the de facto house arrest
would be lifted, but said it might be removed once the situation
was deemed safe from further confrontation.

Early Friday morning, Aung San Suu Kyi was escorted back
to her house from Yangon central station by six military police
cars after being prevented from boarding the train to Mandalay.

Aung San Suu Kyi had to be removed from Yangon station by
security personnel because "she lashed out at a station cleaning
crew before being asked to leave by station authorities," the Yangon
junta said in a statement.

The Nobel laureate had arrived at Yangon station Thursday afternoon
saying she wanted to take a train to the northern city of Mandalay.

But when she was told there were no tickets left for the former
capital, she and her party refused to leave the station, the junta
said.

"They became abusive toward the station cleaning staff, and had
to be escorted from the building at approximately 1:00 a.m.
Friday (1830 GMT Thursday)."

A tight security cordon of at least fifty military intelligence officers
was placed around Aung San Suu Kyi's house Friday, with
intelligence surrounding the buildings and keeping all nearby
businesses and shops shut.

Diplomats who had attempted to visit the NLD leader Friday
evening were turned away outside her compound and
prevented from nearing the house, witnesses said.

There was a lighter military intelligence presence at NLD
headquarters in downtown Yangon, where several NLD members
were seen inside but no meeting appeared to be occurring,
witnesses said.

Aung San Suu Kyi had reportedly wished to travel to the
northern city of Mandalay to check reports of a crackdown
on NLD offices.

While she was prevented from boarding the train, about 100
of her supporters were also herded into trucks by military police
at the station and taken to an undisclosed location.

Trains had departed full but witnesses said they suspected
the passengers had boarded the trains at the far side of the
station.

The junta last week ended a house arrest of Aung San
Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders following a nine-day roadside
showdown but barred her from leaving the capital.

Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the NLD central
executive committee had previously been  laced under virtual
house arrest on September 2, after they tried to attend a party
meeting outside Yangon.

This triggered a prolonged stand-off during which the NLD
leaders  remained camped by their cars for nine days before
being taken back to the capital by security officials.

The United States strongly condemned the NLD leader's
removal from the station.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in a statement,
"the blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage
committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders
by Burmese authorities.

"It is unacceptable," Albright said.

"The United States holds the Burmese government responsible f
or their safety and welfare and calls for the immediate restoration
of their freedom of movement and access to others, including foreign
diplomats."

But the Yangon junta Friday hit back at foreign critics.

A commentary in state-run Burmese-language newspaper Mirror
said foreign journalists were inventing stories about the regime to
discredit it, exaggerating the problems between the NLD and the
junta.

The foreign press "will write down anything that the NLD fabricates.
Diplomats and local journalists representing the foreign media are
all helping to spread this false news."