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HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar Crackdown Draws
International Wrath
AFP - Myanmar regime accuses NLD of threatening
national security
LA Times - Opposition Leaders' Homes
Surrounded
Reuters - World anger as Myanmar cracks
down on opposition
AFP - Myanmar regime accuses NLD of threatening
national security
AP - Myanmar Moves Against
Opposition
Reuters - Suu Kyi Locked in As Myanmar
Military Cracks Down
AP - Myanmar Suu Kyi Reported Well
AP - Britain Summons Myanmar Ambassador To
Protest Crackdown
IHT - Burma Military Detains Pro-Democracy
Leader
Kyodo - Myanmar explains action on Suu Kyi
to diplomats
Kyodo - Myanmar asks diplomats to stay
away from Suu Kyi
SMH - Australia under pressure on Burma
relations
Boston Globe - World leaders condemn Burma
crackdown
Asia Pulse - Australia Not to Cancel Military
Programme With Burma
Bkk Post - Drug threat mounts as Wa army
takes control
BBC - Annan protest over Suu Kyi
standoff
SCMP - Suu Kyi said to be in good
health
SCMP - Junta ponders smashing
NLD
----------------------------------------------------------------
Burma Related News - 23, 10 , 1998. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday September 3 5:08 AM ET
Myanmar Crackdown Draws International Wrath By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - A crackdown
by Myanmar's ruling military on the pro-democracy opposition party of Nobel
Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has provoked strong international
condemnation.
On Saturday, the Myanmar junta forced Suu Kyi to return to Yangon, ending a
nine-day roadside confrontation with her just outside the capital. She had left
Yangon on August 24 to try to visit supporters.
Security around the headquarters of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) and residences of Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders was tightened on
Sunday with dozens of police deployed in the area and about 50 officers outside
party offices.
``The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the
violations of their fundamental human rights,'' Secretary of States Madeleine
Albright said in a statement.
Albright said she had reports that military intelligence agents had taken
away files after spending hours on Saturday at NLD offices.
Diplomats said they believed the NLD leaders were under house arrest and
said their telephones had all been cut off. Diplomatic access to Suu Kyi and
other opposition leaders had been denied.
``We have tried to visit several of them but have been unable to get near
their homes. We were turned away by military intelligence and riot police,''
said a Western diplomat.
A Myanmar government spokesman denied Suu Kyi or other NLD leaders members
were under house arrest but said their movement was being restricted.
``None of the NLD's Central Executive Committee members are put under house
arrest,'' the spokesman said in a statement received by Reuters on Sunday.
Three Under House Arrest -- Nld
It said the government was investigating whether some NLD members had links
with an armed group called God's Army and needed to ask senior party members to
stay at home.
NLD sources told Reuters the movements of key NLD people were
``restricted'' and three senior NLD members appeared to be under house arrest.
Telephone lines appeared not to be working.
But, in a sign that the NLD had not been officially banned, flags and
symbols of the NLD were still fluttering in front of the NLD headquarters on
Sunday.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook condemned the crackdown, saying it
showed the weakness of the Yangon regime.
``We need to know she's safe, is well. What's happened to her is a
scandal,'' Cook said on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union (EU)
foreign ministers in France on Saturday.
The 15-member EU issued a statement expressing concern at the forced return
to the capital of Suu Kyi.
Thailand's daily Nation newspaper said in an editorial on Sunday that
despite an end to the roadside confrontation, the stand-off between Myanmar and
the rest of the world continued.
It said a policy of ``constructive engagement'' by countries in the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) had failed.
``In fact, Burma (Myanmar) remains as rigid as ever...''
Official media, both print and electronic, completely ignored the crackdown
on the NLD in their Sunday editions.
Monday, September 4 2:47 PM SGT
Myanmar regime accuses NLD of threatening national security YANGON, Sept 4 (AFP) -
Myanmar's military leaders on Monday accused Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) of threatening national security and warned
the crackdown on the party could continue for some time.
The NLD headquarters had been raided and the leadership detained in their
homes because recent NLD activities "could pose a threat to national security,"
a spokesman for the junta told AFP.
Authorities had been watching with concern frequent visits to the NLD's
main office in Yangon by foreigners posing as tourists and carrying a number of
parcels, which could be bombs, the spokesman said.
"Because of the national security concerns" posed by the bombs, Saturday's
raid on the NLD was necessary, and NLD headquarters would remain closed until
the authorities concluded an investigation into the matter, he said.
The Yangon junta frequently accuses the NLD of terrorist acts.
The NLD's headquarters were raided in the early hours of Saturday, just
before the junta announced Aung San Suu Kyi had been "escorted" home from the
roadside stand-off.
The Nobel laureate and a dozen NLD supporters had been camped out in their
cars on the outskirts of Yangon for nine days after being prevented from
travelling to a party meeting outside the capital.
Although the spokesman emphatically denied the NLD leaders had been
officially put under house arrest, armed guards were Monday encamped outside the
NLD headquarters and NLD leaders' homes, preventing them from leaving and
barring any visitors from visiting.
Authorities Monday continued a search of the NLD's offices for information
about recent meetings between the opposition and foreigners, the spokesman
said.
There was no sign of Aung San Suu Kyi or any of the other NLD
leaders.
Analysts in Yangon said the NLD leadership, including Aung San Suu Kyi, was
likely to be prohibited from communicating with the outside world until the
investigation into the opposition's headquarters was finished.
Meanwhile, international pressure mounted on Myanmar's military
government.
"Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and the
freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing," Fred Eckhard, the
spokesman for United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, said in a
statement.
In Thailand, Aung Thu Nyein, secretary general of the All Burma Students
Democratic Front, a group of exiled opposition members, said the junta's action
had "made the situation in Burma much worse."
The events were "indisputable evidence of the junta's unlawful strategy to
deny a legal political party," said opposition group Burma Lawyers' Council in a
statement.
"The Burma Lawyers' Council expresses grave concerns for the safety and the
security of Aung San Suu Kyi and senior NLD leaders, and urges the international
community ... to take strong initiatives to secure their safety and
security."
Thai government spokesman Akapol Saorasuchart was cautious in his comments
about Myanmar, telling AFP "we will not interfere in their internal problems,"
but adding Bangkok hoped for "a peaceful solution to problems in Myanmar."
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression of opponents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese nationalist leader General Aung
San, was under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements
greatly restricted.
LA Times - Sep 4,
2000.
Opposition Leaders' Homes Surrounded From Times Wire Reports Authorities moved against Myanmar's battered opposition party, surrounding
the homes of its leaders and effectively shutting down its nerve center in a
crackdown that has triggered international condemnation. The military regime
said senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy party were
"requested to stay at their respective residences." The crackdown followed what
the opposition said was the forced end to a nine-day standoff between the regime
and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
World anger as Myanmar cracks down
on opposition
Last updated: 04 Sep 2000 07:15 GMT (Reuters) By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Dozens of
police took up positions outside the headquarters of Myanmar's pro-democracy
opposition on Monday as the military government faced international outrage over
its crackdown against opponents of the regime.
Diplomats said they believed senior leaders of the opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, were under house arrest
with their telephones cut.
Diplomatic access to Suu Kyi and other senior opposition figures was
refused.
But the government denied Suu Kyi and other senior NLD members were under
house arrest, although it confirmed their movements had been restricted. The NLD
won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he felt "deep concern" over events
in Myanmar, after the government halted a nine-day roadside protest by Suu Kyi,
forcing her to return home and tightening restrictions on leading members of her
party.
Suu Kyi, her driver and 14 NLD members were brought home by the authorities
early on Saturday after spending nine days and nights in two cars parked by a
dirt track outside Yangon.
"Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and the
freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing," Annan said in a
statement.
The government said it was investigating whether some NLD members had been
"engaging (in) terrorist activity" by conspiring with an armed anti-government
group called God's Army to smuggle bombs into the country.
"Senior NLD central executive committee members have been requested to stay
at their respective residences and to co-operate with the government during the
course of (the) investigation," it said in a statement.
INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
God's Army, which groups radical ethnic Karen fighters and Myanmar student
activists and is led by two cheroot-smoking teenage twins revered as having
godlike powers, was blamed for taking hundreds of hostages at a Thai hospital in
January.
The hospital siege ended with all 10 guerrillas involved in the attack
being shot dead by Thai commandos. God's Army is believed to have around 200
fighters at most.
The United States, Britain and Australia have all condemned the crackdown
by the Myanmar military.
"The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the
violations of their fundamental human rights," U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright said in a statement.
Albright said she had reports that military agents had taken away files
after spending hours on Saturday at NLD offices.
At the NLD headquarters in Yangon, around a dozen policemen stood guard in
front of the building on Monday and dozens more were deployed in the area, some
on light trucks.
They did not appear to be armed, but police with riot gear and shields were
visible behind the scenes.
Yangon was calm, residents said, with many people unaware of the events of
the weekend.
The roadside protest was the first time Suu Kyi had tried to leave Yangon
since another roadside confrontation in 1998 that lasted 13 days until
deteriorating health and dehydration forced her to return home.
The protest embarrassed Myanmar and raised doubts over a planned meeting of
European Union and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign
ministers in Laos in December.
The government stepped up its verbal attacks on the NLD as the stand-off
dragged on, and took a new tack at the weekend with its accusations that the
party was involved with God's Army. Monday, September 4 2:47 PM SGT
Myanmar regime accuses NLD of threatening national security YANGON, Sept 4 (AFP) -
Myanmar's military leaders on Monday accused Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) of threatening national security and warned
the crackdown on the party could continue for some time.
The NLD headquarters had been raided and the leadership detained in their
homes because recent NLD activities "could pose a threat to national security,"
a spokesman for the junta told AFP.
Authorities had been watching with concern frequent visits to the NLD's
main office in Yangon by foreigners posing as tourists and carrying a number of
parcels, which could be bombs, the spokesman said.
"Because of the national security concerns" posed by the bombs, Saturday's
raid on the NLD was necessary, and NLD headquarters would remain closed until
the authorities concluded an investigation into the matter, he said.
The Yangon junta frequently accuses the NLD of terrorist acts.
The NLD's headquarters were raided in the early hours of Saturday, just
before the junta announced Aung San Suu Kyi had been "escorted" home from the
roadside stand-off.
The Nobel laureate and a dozen NLD supporters had been camped out in their
cars on the outskirts of Yangon for nine days after being prevented from
travelling to a party meeting outside the capital.
Although the spokesman emphatically denied the NLD leaders had been
officially put under house arrest, armed guards were Monday encamped outside the
NLD headquarters and NLD leaders' homes, preventing them from leaving and
barring any visitors from visiting.
Authorities Monday continued a search of the NLD's offices for information
about recent meetings between the opposition and foreigners, the spokesman
said.
There was no sign of Aung San Suu Kyi or any of the other NLD
leaders.
Analysts in Yangon said the NLD leadership, including Aung San Suu Kyi, was
likely to be prohibited from communicating with the outside world until the
investigation into the opposition's headquarters was finished.
Meanwhile, international pressure mounted on Myanmar's military
government.
"Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and the
freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing," Fred Eckhard, the
spokesman for United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, said in a
statement.
In Thailand, Aung Thu Nyein, secretary general of the All Burma Students
Democratic Front, a group of exiled opposition members, said the junta's action
had "made the situation in Burma much worse."
The events were "indisputable evidence of the junta's unlawful strategy to
deny a legal political party," said opposition group Burma Lawyers' Council in a
statement.
"The Burma Lawyers' Council expresses grave concerns for the safety and the
security of Aung San Suu Kyi and senior NLD leaders, and urges the international
community ... to take strong initiatives to secure their safety and
security."
Thai government spokesman Akapol Saorasuchart was cautious in his comments
about Myanmar, telling AFP "we will not interfere in their internal problems,"
but adding Bangkok hoped for "a peaceful solution to problems in Myanmar."
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression of opponents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese nationalist leader General Aung
San, was under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements
greatly restricted.
Monday, September 4 11:40 AM SGT
Pressure mounts on Myanmar as crackdown continuesYANGON, Sept 4 (AFP) - International pressure mounted on Myanmar's military government Monday as it kept up its crackdown on the leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).World leaders and exiled opposition members Monday slammed the Yangon junta for detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and her chief lieutenants, after her nine-day standoff with the authorities ended on Saturday. Armed guards were Monday encamped outside the NLD headquarters and NLD leaders' homes, preventing them from leaving and barring any visitors from visiting the detained NLD members. Authorities continued a search of the NLD's offices for information about recent meetings between the opposition and a group of foreigners who visited Myanmar and smuggled out a video of Aung San Suu Kyi, a spokesman for Yangon said. There was no sign of Aung San Suu Kyi, Tin Oo or any other leading executives. "Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and the freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing" in Myanmar, Fred Eckhard, the spokesman for United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, said in a statement. The secretary general emphasized the need to respect the human rights of Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders, the statement added. The NLD's headquarters were raided in the early hours of Saturday, just before the junta announced that Aung San Suu Kyi had been "escorted" home from the roadside standoff. Aung San Suu Kyi and a dozen NLD supporters had been camped out in their cars on the outskirts of Yangon for nine days after being prevented from travelling to a party meeting outside the capital. On Sunday, the junta ordered Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders to remain at home, effectively placing them under house arrest, although the Yangon regime spokesman told AFP no one had been officially arrested. In Thailand, Aung Thu Nyein, secretary general of the All Burma Students Democratic Front, a group of exiled opposition members, said: "We condemn the action against Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta's action has made the situation in Burma much worse." "The recent blockade, illegally restraining and obstructing Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her NLD, is indisputable evidence of the junta's unlawful strategy to deny a legal political party," said opposition group Burma Lawyers' Council in a statement. "The Burma Lawyers' Council expresses grave concerns for the safety and the security of Aung San Suu Kyi and senior NLD leaders, and urges the international community ... to take strong initiatives to secure their safety and security." Thai government spokesman Akapol Saorasuchart was cautious in his comments about Myanmar, telling AFP "we will not interfere in their internal problems," but adding Bangkok hoped for "a peaceful solution to problems in Myanmar." The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights groups of severe repression of opponents. Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese nationalist leader General Aung San, was under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements greatly restricted. Sunday September 3 7:57 PM ET
Myanmar Moves Against Opposition YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Police
and intelligence officers moved against Myanmar's battered opposition party
Sunday, surrounding the homes of its leaders and effectively shutting down its
nerve center in a crackdown that has triggered international condemnation.
The authoritarian military regime said senior members of the opposition
National League for Democracy party were ``requested to stay at their respective
residences.''
The crackdown followed what the opposition said was the forced end to a
nine-day standoff between the military regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
The 55-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and her National League for
Democracy party colleagues were returned to the capital Saturday after spending
nine days on a suburban roadside. Security personnel had stopped her from
traveling to the countryside for political work, and she refused to return to
Yangon, capital of Myanmar, also known as Burma.
At almost the same time, party headquarters in Yangon were raided and
senior party officials were confined to their homes.
The incident was Suu Kyi's first attempt to travel outside the capital in
two years. The government had blocked four previous attempts, most recently in
1998, when she spent 13 days in her car.
British diplomats who tried to visit Suu Kyi and party deputy leader Tin Oo
at their homes Saturday were stopped by security personnel, an embassy
representative said. The British Embassy said it would press the government for
access to Suu Kyi and other party leaders.
In Washington, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright condemned the
crackdown.
``The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the
violation of their fundamental human rights,'' Albright said in a statement
Saturday.
``We call on the Burmese authorities to allow normal access and freedom of
movement to Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the National League for
Democracy,'' the statement said.
On Sunday, the European Union condemned Myanmar's restrictions on Suu Kyi's
movement and freedom of _expression_, saying it deplored the government's
threatening measures.
``The European Union is very preoccupied with the political situation in
Rangoon and the forced return of Madame Aung San Suu Kyi to the capital,'' said
a statement issued by the French presidency of the EU during a foreign ministers
meeting.
Also on Sunday, the United Nations weighed in, saying it was deeply
concerned by actions taken against Suu Kyi and her party colleagues.
``Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and
the freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing,'' said a
statement from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's spokesman.
Suu Kyi has led the opposition movement in Myanmar since 1988, when the
military quashed pro-democracy demonstrations and asserted its authoritarian
rule.
She has urged foreign pressure on the military regime and repeatedly has
been rebuffed in attempts to hold a dialogue with Myanmar's rulers. She won the
1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent pro-democracy work.
The military held an election in 1990, but refused to allow Parliament to
convene after the National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory.
Since then, Suu Kyi's party members have suffered arrest and harassment.
In a statement Sunday to The Associated Press in Bangkok, the government
said it was investigating the activities of 14 foreigners and a U.S.
Congressional team that recently visited party headquarters.
The government said the party's executive committee members were asked to
stay at their homes and cooperate in the investigation. None is under house
arrest, the statement said.
Security personnel were seen Sunday around the National League for
Democracy party headquarters and around the houses of Tin Oo and other party
officials.
Party sources said party headquarters were raided early Saturday and that
police seized several documents.
Monday September 4 8:14 AM ET
Suu Kyi Locked in As Myanmar Military Cracks Down By Aung Hla Tun YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi was kept locked in her Yangon residence Monday as Myanmar's military
government mounted a crackdown against its opponents despite world
outrage.
Diplomats said the gate to Suu Kyi's residence had been padlocked since she
was forcibly returned in the early hours of Saturday after a nine-day stand-off
with the authorities in her car outside Yangon.
Embassy officials and members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD) who tried to visit her were turned away. Diplomats said her telephone, and
those of other senior NLD officials, seemed to have been cut.
``Her gate is padlocked. Not even staff or her personal driver are being
allowed in there at the moment,'' said a Western diplomat in Yangon.
At the NLD headquarters in Yangon, around a dozen policemen stood guard in
front of the building Monday and dozens more were deployed in the area. They did
not appear to be armed, but police with riot gear and shields were visible
behind the scenes.
Yangon was calm Monday, residents said, with many people unaware of the
events of the weekend.
The government denied Suu Kyi and senior colleagues were under house
arrest, but said they had been asked to ``stay at their respective residences''
while it investigated reports that some NLD members had been involved in
``terrorist activity.''
A government statement said there were reports that some NLD members had
conspired to bring bombs into Myanmar with the help of God's Army, a rag-tag
guerrilla group led by two cheroot-smoking teenage twins revered as having
godlike powers.
The NLD won 1990 elections by a landslide but has never been allowed to
govern.
International Condemnation
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he felt ``deep concern'' over events
in Myanmar.
``Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and
the freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing,'' Annan said in
a statement.
The United States, Britain and Australia have all condemned the crackdown
by the Myanmar military.
``The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the
violations of their fundamental human rights,'' Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright said.
The crackdown in Myanmar followed a nine-day roadside confrontation with
authorities after Suu Kyi was stopped by police while trying to leave Yangon on
August 24.
It was the first time Suu Kyi had tried to leave Yangon since another
roadside confrontation in 1998 that lasted 13 days until deteriorating health
and dehydration forced her to return home.
The protest embarrassed Myanmar and raised doubts over a planned meeting of
European Union and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign
ministers in Laos in December.
The government stepped up its verbal attacks on the NLD as the stand-off
dragged on, and took a new tack with its accusations that the party was involved
with God's Army.
God's Army, which groups radical ethnic Karen fighters and Myanmar student
activists, was blamed for taking hundreds of hostages at a Thai hospital in
January.
The hospital siege ended with all 10 guerrillas involved in the attack
being shot dead by Thai commandos. God's Army is believed to have around 200
fighters at most.
Monday September 4 8:04 AM ET
Myanmar Suu Kyi Reported Well YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Although
sealed off from visitors, the Myanmar opposition leader who spent nine days in a
Toyota during a standoff with the government is in good health, a party member
said Monday.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent
pro-democracy work, was at her home in Yangon, said a party official who spoke
on condition of anonymity. She was sheltering a dozen members of her National
League for Democracy party's youth wing, who had accompanied her during the
roadside standoff.
Authorities have barred access to Suu Kyi, 55, and other NLD officials
since early Saturday, when she and her companions were forced back to the
capital by police. The government on Monday asked foreign diplomats in Yangon
not to try to meet with her.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told a meeting of Asian diplomats
the government crackdown on Suu Kyi's party was ``temporary,'' but gave no
details of future actions.
The United States and Britain, the harshest critics of Myanmar's military
regime, were not invited to the meetings Monday at the foreign ministry.
U.S. Charge d'Affaires Priscilla Clapp said in a telephone interview that
police had barred diplomats from even approaching the homes of the NLD party
leaders.
The gate to Suu Kyi's compound was bolted shut and padlocked from outside,
Clapp said. No one seems to be allowed to enter or leave the party leaders'
homes, and their telephone lines were cut, she said.
``The government says it's not house arrest, but to us it looks like house
arrest,'' she said. The United States has condemned the government's crackdown
on the NLD.
Britain's ambassador, John Jenkins, was ``physically restrained and
jostled'' Saturday when he attempted to visit NLD headquarters and the home of
party deputy chairman Tin Oo, said an embassy spokesman, on condition of
anonymity.
The party's headquarters, raided by police early Saturday, was shut Monday.
Teashops nearby also were ordered to close, a shop owner said.
Security forces stopped Suu Kyi and her companions Aug. 24, in the Yangon
suburb of Dala, as they headed into the countryside to conduct party business.
She refused to return to the capital, in defiance of the government, and camped
out by the road for nine days.
Oo said the group was returned ``forcibly'' to the capital on Saturday.
Police sealed his home later that day.
The standoff in Dala was triggered by Suu Kyi's first attempt to leave the
capital city in two years. The government blocked four previous attempts, most
recently in 1998, when she spent 13 days in her car.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the country's late independence leader, Gen. Aung
San, has led the opposition movement in Myanmar, also known as Burma, since
1988, when the military crushed mass pro-democracy demonstrations and asserted
its authoritarian rule.
The government held a general election in 1990 but refused to allow
parliament to convene after the NLD won a landslide victory.
Monday, September 4 11:51 PM SGT
Britain Summons Myanmar Ambassador To Protest Crackdown LONDON (AP)--Britain has
summoned Myanmar's ambassador to protest the government's latest crackdown
against the opposition movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Foreign Office said
Monday.
Foreign Office Minister John Battle said the government's de facto house
arrest of opposition leaders and its closing of the headquarters of Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy were "serious infringements" of human and
political rights.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her pro-democracy
efforts, was being kept isolated at her home in the capital of Yangon after a
nine-day standoff with government forces, set off Aug. 24 when she tried to
leave the capital for the first time in two years.
Foreign Office Minister John Battle demanded the restoration of diplomatic
access to Suu Kyi and her associates. He also protested what he called the
"manhandling" of Britain's ambassador, John Jenkins, when he tried to make
contact over the weekend with members of the opposition.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the country's late independence leader, Gen. Aung
San, has led the opposition movement in Myanmar, also known as Burma, since
1988, when the military crushed mass pro-democracy demonstrations and asserted
its authoritarian rule.
The government held a general election in 1990 but refused to allow
parliament to convene after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a
landslide victory.
International Herald Tribune
Paris, Monday, September 4, 2000 Burma Military Detains Pro-Democracy Leader Authorities Act After Roadside Standoff Ends RANGOON - The Burmese military government on Sunday detained the leaders of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, a day after the end of a roadside standoff with her. A government spokesman said Sunday that some senior members of the party, the National League for Democracy, had been ''requested'' to remain at home during an investigation. The statement was the first confirmation that the party's leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, had been detained. Although the spokesman denied that the opposition party leaders had been
arrested, witnesses in Rangoon said they had seen armed guards positioned
outside the homes of party leaders, preventing them from leaving.
As the leaders were being detained, the authorities searched the party's
offices for information about recent meetings between the party and a group of
foreigners who visited Burma and smuggled out a video of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
the government spokesman said.
The government also asserted that elements of the National League for
Democracy had been ''engaging in terrorist activity.'' Elements of the party had
collaborated with an insurgent group known as God's Army in smuggling five
remote-controlled bombs into Burma, the government spokesman said.
God's Army, a group led by two teenaged twins, was accused of being
involved in a hospital siege in Thailand this year and in the seizure of the
Burmese Embassy in Bangkok last year.
The government frequently accuses the opposition party of engaging in
terrorist acts.
The party's headquarters were raided early Saturday, just before the
government announced that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, 55, had been ''escorted'' home
after a nine-day roadside standoff. At the same time, at least three senior
members of the party's central executive committee were also reportedly placed
under house arrest and their telephone lines cut.
On Sunday, the government stressed that normality prevailed while
nonetheless maintaining the clampdown on the opposition. A government-controlled
newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, highlighted Sunday the ''business as usual
atmosphere'' in the capital.
Rangoon is ''full of weekend activities,'' it said, adding, ''Pagodas
thronged with devotees, amusement parks with holiday makers, shopping centers
with customers and cinemas with moviegoers.''
Meanwhile, the military authorities kept in place a ring of high security
riot police around the headquarters of the party and the homes of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo, the party's vice chairman.
The National League for Democracy won a landslide general election victory
in 1990, but the government has never recognized the result and is accused by
foreign critics and human rights groups of severe repression of opponents.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of General Aung San, the nation's
independence leader and the founder of the modern Burmese Army, was placed under
house arrest for six years and her movements have been greatly restricted.
YANGON, Sept. 4 Kyodo
LEAD: Myanmar explains action on Suu Kyi to diplomats (UPDATING WITH STATEMENT FROM MYANMAR'S DEPUTY FOREIGN
MINISTER)
Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win invited heads of diplomatic missions to his office Monday to explain the forced return of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) to Yangon on Saturday, diplomatic sources said. YANGON, Sept. 4 Kyodo
2ND LD: c Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win on
Monday requested foreign diplomats in the country to stay away from
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and senior members of her National League
for Democracy (NLD), diplomatic sources said.
Khin Maung Win made the official request during
meetings with the heads of diplomatic missions, whom he invited to his office to
explain the forced return of Suu Kyi and other NLD members to the capital on
Saturday, the sources said.
Sydney Morning Herald
Australia under pressure on Burma relations Date: 04/09/2000 By CRAIG SKEHAN, Herald Correspondent in Bangkok As international outrage grows over Burma's crushing of a protest vigil by
the democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, her party has hit out at Australia for
establishing closer diplomatic ties with the military regime.
The pro-democracy leader appeared yesterday to be under a form of house
arrest, with British, American and Australian diplomats denied access to
her.
Sann Aung, labour minister in Ms Suu Kyi's exiled National League for
Democracy government, said: "I have been informed that police are around the
houses of Suu Kyi and the other nine members of the NLD's executive committee.
No-one is being allowed to come in or go out.
"Party members have had their telephone lines cut and many people are going
into hiding."
Fifteen NLD leaders meeting in Bangkok yesterday called for immediate
United Nations intervention.
The NLD has lashed out at Australia's engagement with the military regime,
including its policy of holding of human rights seminars for Burmese officials,
saying the regime uses the seminars to present an image of flexibility and
co-operation while pressing ahead with the suppression of all dissent.
"What Australia is doing is encouraging the military regime to do the same
as before," said a senior NLD official based in Bangkok, Mr U Tin Oo.
"Australia should give a clear message to the military regime that it has
to show good behaviour and be willing to return to democracy."
Ms Suu Kyi and her supporters were stopped in the township of Dala on
August 24 while trying to visit rural supporters. Early last Saturday, dozens of
personnel apprehended Ms Suu Kyi, her driver and 14 party members who had been
camped for nine days on the outskirts of Rangoon.
"Suu Kyi and her travel companions were escorted back to their respective
residences in Rangoon in a motorcade facilitated by the Government for their
safe and convenient return," an official statement said.
One western diplomat said it appeared the Burmese regime did not want Ms
Suu's Kyi's high-profile protest to be continuing when the UN General Assembly
meets this week.
Britain's Foreign Minister, Mr Robin Cook, expressed deep concern at what
had happened to Ms Suu Kyi, and called for immediate diplomatic access to her
and her colleagues.
The European Union also deplored Ms Suu Kyi's treatment, and the US
Secretary of State, Dr Madeleine Albright, said she was outraged by the regime's
action.
Australia's Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, had made no comment last
night.
The Boston Globe
World leaders condemn Burma crackdown By Associated Press, 9/4/2000 RANGOON, Burma - Police and intelligence officers moved against Burma's
battered opposition party yesterday, surrounding the homes of its leaders and
effectively shutting down its nerve center in a crackdown that has triggered
international condemnation.
The authoritarian military regime said senior members of the opposition
National League for Democracy party were ''requested to stay at their respective
residences.''
The crackdown followed what the opposition said was the forced end to a
nine-day standoff between the military regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
The 55-year-old Nobel peace laureate and her party colleagues were returned
to the capital Saturday after spending nine days on a suburban roadside.
Security personnel had stopped her from traveling to the countryside for
political work, and she had refused to return to the capital.
At about the same time, the party's headquarters in Rangoon were raided,
and senior party officials were confined to their homes.
It was Suu Kyi's first attempt to travel outside the capital in two years.
The government had blocked four previous attempts, most recently in 1998, when
she spent 13 days in her car.
British diplomats who tried to visit Suu Kyi and party deputy leader Tin Oo
at their homes Saturday were stopped by security personnel, an embassy
representative said. The British Embassy said it would press the government for
access to Suu Kyi and other party leaders.
In Washington, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright condemned the
crackdown.
''The United States is outraged and strongly condemns the Burmese
authorities' treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members and the
violation of their fundamental human rights,'' Albright said in a statement
Saturday. ''We call on the Burmese authorities to allow normal access and
freedom of movement to Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the National League
for Democracy.''
Yesterday, the European Union condemned Burma's restrictions on Suu Kyi's
movement and freedom of _expression_, saying it deplored the government's
threatening measures.
''The European Union is very preoccupied with the political situation in
Rangoon and the forced return of Madame Aung San Suu Kyi to the capital,'' said
a statement issued by the French presidency of the EU during a foreign ministers
meeting.
Suu Kyi has led the opposition movement in Burma since 1988, when the
military quashed prodemocracy demonstrations and asserted its authoritarian
rule.
Monday, September 4 4:08 PM SGT
Australia Not to Cancel Military Programme With Burma CANBERRA, Sept 4 Asia Pulse -
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has rejected demands for Australia to cancel a
military training programme with Burma over the renewed house arrest of
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr Downer warned a do-nothing policy would fail to improve human rights
abuses and rejected Labor criticisms that Australia's actions represented an
attempt to snuggle up to the Burmese military.
"The Australian government is not silent over human rights abuses in
Burma," Mr Downer told parliament.
"We make no attempt whatsoever to snuggle up to anyone in Burma.
"The Australian government is appalled by the standards of human rights in
Burma and we certainly deplore the way Aung San Suu Kyi has been treated over a
very long period of time."
Suu Kyi's supporters have condemned Australia for going ahead with the
human rights training program.
Suu Kyi was blockaded on a roadside near Rangoon for nine days in a
stand-off with the Burmese military last week.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton said Australia had
remained conspicuously silent throughout the ordeal.
It did not join Britain and the United States in demanding access to Suu
Kyi, nor did Mr Downer make any public statement in support of the democracy
leader, Mr Brereton said.
He called on Australia to cancel its human rights training program with
Burma's military regime.
"Australia is the only country to embark on such an ill-considered
program," Mr Brereton said.
"It sends precisely the wrong message and undermines international pressure
on Rangoon."
But Mr Downer told parliament the Australian ambassador to Burma had
registered Australia's deep concern with the Burmese foreign minister at the end
of last week.
Mr Downer defended the training courses as a proactive measure designed to
encourage an improvement in human rights in Burma.
"We have no economic motive, Burma is not some enormous market Australia is
trying to penetrate," Mr Downer said.
"We don't have any ulterior motive, we have the sincere and honourable
motive of trying to improve human rights in Burma."
ASIA PULSE
Bangkok Post - Sep 4, 2000.
BURMESE BORDER / METHAMPHETAMINE TRAFFICKING Drug threat mounts as Wa army takes control The region's biggest methamphetamine trafficker, the United Wa State Army,
has expanded its control over sensitive areas along the Burmese border, and drug
suppression authorities in Thailand expect the worst.
The UWSA is collaborating with the Shan State Army (SSA) and has taken over
much of its territory, sources said.
The Wa army has consolidated its hold on areas along the border opposite
Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai, and drug factories are springing up there.
An alliance has also been formed with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA), which gets direct support from the Rangoon junta, and new smuggling
routes are expected to be opened up through its territory.
The Third Army's Pha Muang Task Force, which supervises drug suppression
along the Burmese border, and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB)
are in agreement over the increased scope of the threat.
Sources said the UWSA had expanded its territory to include areas opposite
Chiang Mai's Chiang Dao and Vieng Hae districts, formerly under the Shan State
Army's control.
The township of Mong Yawn, the Wa's southern military headquarters, was
built at a cost of several billion baht-money earned almost exclusively from
drugs.
A narcotics board source said production of methamphetamines at refineries
across the border, in areas now controlled jointly by the UWSA and the SSA, is
expected to increase significantly.
The Shan army is commanded by Col Yod Suek, who split from drug warlord
Khun Sa when he surrendered to Rangoon.
The source said the Burmese junta is thought to have encouraged the two
groups to co-operate, and this collaboration is expected to include arms
smuggling.
Theeraphat Santimathaneedol, ONCB deputy secretary-general, said reports
strongly suggest an even greater drug problem is looming in Thailand, where
methamphetamine addiction has spread to school children.
Collaboration will enhance the effectiveness of the UWSA and the SSA, the
drug laboratories they control and their smuggling activities.
The topic will be high on the agenda at the next meeting of the Northern
Narcotics Suppression Centre, he said.
The meeting will have to agree on fresh tactics to prevent the influx of
illicit drugs expected as a result of the Wa-Shan merger.
A security officer from the Pha Muang Task Force said his sources confirmed
the UWSA's 171 division, once stationed south of Mong Yawn, had been stationed
further south, opposite Chiang Dao's Doi Thuay mountain and in an area opposite
Vieng Hae district.
"The UWSA once considered the SSA its arch rival, but now they have reached
agreement," he said.
"The SSA agreed to let the UWSA control the border area around Doi Thuay,
which was once under the SSA's 727 battalion."
The officer was convinced the Burmese military junta was pulling the
strings behind the UWSA's move.
The SSA still had influence over areas opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Fah Luang,
Mae Chan and Mae Sai districts.
"This latest round of co-operation is not unusual since both sides are
directly involved in drug trafficking along the border area," said another
source.
Some UWSA forces had been moved further south to border areas opposite Mae
Hong Son's Pang Ma Pha and Pai districts and Mae Sot in Tak province.
New drug factories had sprung up in this area with the co-operation of the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.
"The area under DKBA control will be used as a route for drug sales in
Thailand," said a border official, who believed the Wa army would soon expand
its influence even farther along the border.
With the UWSA seemingly in firm control, authorities also expect an
explosion in opium growing.
A senior official said annual opium production could double from an
estimated 250 tonnes to 500 tonnes next year following the massive relocation of
Wa tribespeople from the mountains bordering China.
"We estimate 150,000 to 200,000 Wa have already been moved to the UWSA's
new town opposite Chiang Mai," he said. "The drug situation will be critical by
next year."
Mr Theeraphat was also concerned about the relocation of Wa people from
northern Shan State to the Thai border.
Most of these people had few skills other than knowing how to grow opium,
he said.
He expected production of methamphetamine to increase.
There could also be an influx of ethnic minority people from Burma seeking
jobs in Thailand, which would cause further labour problems, he said.
They could also bring infectious diseases with them, which would pose a
health problem for the local population.
BBC -Monday, 4 September, 2000, 10:35
GMT 11:35 UK
Annan protest over Suu Kyi standoff The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has added his voice to
the wave of international protests against the Burmese military authorities'
treatment of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
She has not been seen in public since Friday, when the police forcibly
ended a nine-day standoff that developed from her efforts to visit party
activists outside the capital, Rangoon.
Mr Annan expressed his "deep concern" at the military administration's
actions against the Burmese opposition leader and members of her National League
for Democracy (NLD).
"Reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and the
freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing," he said in a
statement.
Stand-off
Aung San Suu Kyi and fellow party workers were stopped by security forces
on 24 August shortly after leaving the capital.
Refusing government requests to turn back, she and 14 other members of the
NLD set up a makeshift camp in Dala, a suburb of Rangoon.
The stand-off ended on Friday night when riot police moved in to return the
group to the capital.
Since then, the military authorities have blocked access to her and other
opposition leaders.
They deny reports that any of the group has been placed under house arrest
- saying only that they have been requested to at home while investigations are
carried out into their alleged contacts with foreigners and a group of ethnic
Karen rebels, known as God's Army.
However, the British ambassador in Burma said he was not allowed to meet
Aung San Suu Kyi and was manhandled by the security forces when he tried to
contact her and other senior NLD members.
"I was jostled and I was grabbed a couple of times outside the NLD office,"
Ambassador John Jenkins told the BBC.
He said there were growing concerns that the government may be moving to
ban the NLD entirely.
International criticism
The situation in Burma has attracted criticism from the United States, the
European Union and Australia.
"(We are) appalled by the standards of human right in Burma and we
certainly deplore the way in which Aung San Suu Kyi has been treated, "
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Reuters news agency.
The NLD won elections in May 1990, but Burma's military rulers refused to
recognise the result, jailing some party members and placing others under house
arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late Burmese nationalist leader,
General Aung San, was held under house arrest for six years after the NLD's
election victory.
Although this was lifted in 1995, the military government has maintained
restrictions on her movements.
South China Morning Post
Monday, September 4, 2000 BURMA - Suu Kyi said to be in good health ASSOCIATED PRESS in Rangoon Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health inside her
Rangoon compound, a party member said on Monday.
A dozen members of her party's youth wing accompanying her on a nine-day roadside standoff against the government are also sheltering at her home, said the party member, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A diplomat in Rangoon, who also insisted on anonymity, said the gates to
her compound have been padlocked and food has to be delivered over a wall.
Access to Suu Kyi and other senior officials of her National League for
Democracy has been barred by the authorities since the 55-year-old Nobel
laureate, two other party leaders and the youths were brought back to the
capital early on Saturday morning by police.
The party's headquarters also has been closed after being raided and
searched by police early on Saturday.
One of those involved in the roadside confrontation, NLD Deputy Chairman
Tin Oo, said on Saturday before police sealed off his house that the group was
returned to the capital ''forcibly'' after spending nine days encamped in two
cars in the Rangoon suburb of Dala.
Security personnel on August 24 had stopped Suu Kyi's group from travelling
to the countryside for political work, and she refused to return to Rangoon, the
capital of Burma.
Two years ago, the government blocked four attempts by Suu Kyi to travel
outside the capital.
Suu Kyi has led the opposition movement since 1988, when the military
smashed pro-democracy demonstrations and asserted its authoritarian
rule.
South China Morning Post
Monday, September 4, 2000 BURMA - Junta ponders smashing NLD WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok The junta that rules Burma is flirting with the notion of an attempt to
smash the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) once and for all,
diplomats and analysts said yesterday.
"They want the NLD paralysed so that they can produce the so-called democratic government they have promised us for so long," said the exiled government's justice minister, Thein Oo. If it wipes out the NLD, a hand-picked convention currently treading water
could produce a new constitution tilted in favour of the military so that it
could hold fresh elections designed to lever its own version of a civilian
government into power.
The junta's propaganda machine has pumped out myriad stories in recent
months linking Aung San Suu Kyi and her party to the 50-year-old Karen
nationalist rebellion, to last year's brief capture of its embassy in Bangkok by
student activists, and to a host of other alleged conspiracies.
Ideally, from the regime's point of view, the NLD would still be around for
international consumption as a legal, but broken party, said diplomats in
Rangoon.
This would allow the junta to claim that the NLD had lost the massive
support it enjoyed in the 1990 election, they said.
If the party refuses to be cowed, it might simply be de-registered - though
at the price of even more international credibility.
"What sort of legitimacy would any government have if it didn't contest
power with the NLD?" said Mr Thein Oo.
The NLD, said one diplomat in the capital, "has refused to bow down - it
has fought for democracy and human rights. When and if Burma embraces a more
liberal regime, it could be a vital counterbalance to military
rule". |