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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEP 22, 2000. [SPECIAL] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - US condemns "unacceptable"
removal of Aung San Suu Kyi from train station
AFP - Aung San Suu Kyi's ordeal -- 12 years and
counting
BBC - No train ticket for Suu Kyi
AP - Military Junta Stop Suu Kyi's Leave Friday, September 22 8:06 AM SGT
US condemns "unacceptable" removal of Aung San Suu Kyi from train station WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (AFP) - The United States strongly condemned the
reported "forcible removal" of Aung San Suu Kyi from Yangon railway station
Thursday, where the Myanmar opposition leader had been engaged in her latest
standoff with the ruling military junta.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in a statement,
"Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy leaders were forcibly
removed from a Rangoon (Yangon) train station by military authorities in the
early hours of September 22.
"We cannot confirm their whereabouts at this time,"
Albright's statement continued.
"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 has been consistent in its backing for
Aung San Suu Kyi since her National League for Democracy won general elections
in 1990, a result the military government refused to honor.
Witnesses in Yangon said five truckloads of Aung San Suu
Kyi's supporters were carted away from the station by military police after she
was prevented from boarding the train to the northern city of
Mandalay.
Her attempt to travel was the latest attempt to test the
junta's ban on her moving outside the capital.
The authorities were likely to escort the opposition
leader back home later Thursday night, a source at the station had said
earlier.
Albright added in the statement that, "The United States
holds the Burmese government responsible for their safety and welfare and calls
for the immediate restoration of their freedom of movement and access to others,
including foreign diplomats."
The junta last Thursday lifted the house arrest placed on
Aung San Suu Kyi following a nine-day roadside showdown but barred her from
leaving the capital.
Aung San Suu Kyi and the other members of the party's
central executive committee had been placed under virtual house arrest on
September 2, after they tried to attend a party meeting outside the
capital.
This triggered a prolonged stand-off with the military
authorities in which the NLD leaders remained camped by their cars for nine days
before being taken back to the capital by security officials.
Friday, September 22 1:23 AM SGT
Aung San Suu Kyi's ordeal -- 12 years
and counting
YANGON, Sept 21 (AFP) - Since forming the
National League for Democracy 12 years ago, Aung San Suu Kyi has endured a
lengthy series of disputes with the Myanmar junta.
Following are the major events: 1988, Aug-Sep 8: Mass demonstrations demanding an end to the military dictatorship in place since 1962 are staged across the country after months of turmoil. Troops open fire on the crowds, leaving hundreds or thousands dead, according to different estimates. Military takes charge. National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of independence hero General Aung San, is formed. 1989, July: Aung San Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest. 1990 May: Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD wins 392 out of 485 seats in parliamentary elections. The military government, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, annuls the results. 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 1995: The junta releases Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. 1996: The junta bans Aung San Suu Kyi from addressing supporters outside her house. It prevents her leaving Yangon by train to Mandalay by disconnecting the carriage she is in. 1997, May: Hundreds of police prevent the holding of an NLD congress at Aung San Suu Kyi's home. 1998, July-August: Aung San Suu Kyi makes several attempts to flee the capital but is blocked by a military escort. The NLD calls for a meeting of the 1990 parliament, a move which triggers a crackdown against the party and the arrest of hundreds of followers. 1999, March: Aung San Suu Kyi's husband, Michael Aris, dies in Britain from cancer. The junta had denied Aris a visa in the last months of his illness. His wife elects not to visit him, fearing she may be barred from returning. 2000, Aug 24: Aung San Suu Kyi faces off military authorities in a town outside Yangon. The stand-off is sparked when she leaves Yangon for a meeting with the party's youth wing in the outlying town of Kawhmu, in defiance of an order which confines her to the capital. The United States, Britain, France and the European Union lead a host of countries in criticising the restrictions on her movement. Sept 2: Military authorities announce Aung San Suu Kyi has been "escorted" home and raid the NLD headquarters, placing senior members under house arrest. The United States, European Union and Britain condemn the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party. Sept 4: Britain summons Myanmar's ambassador to protest his government's treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and the alleged manhandling of the British ambassador in Yangon when he tried to contact her. Sept 6: US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair blast the junta for its treatment of the opposition leader. Sept 7: The European Union calls on the Myanmar authorities to grant Aung San Suu Kyi and all citizens of the country "immediate freedom of movement." Sept 8: Canada calls on Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi, rejecting Yangon's claim that the Nobel laureate's political party is involved in terrorist activities. Sept 12: The world's women foreign ministers, led by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, denounce Myanmar for its treatment of the opposition. Sept 14: Myanmar junta lifts some restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi and allows British and US diplomats to visit her for the first time since the end of her roadside stand-off. Sept 15: Aung San Suu Kyi vows to travel outside Yangon within 10 days in defiance of the junta's ban on travel outside the capital. Sept 16: The NLD resolves to draft a new constitution and calls for release of all political prisioners as security forces restrict access to the party headquarters. Sept 17: Junta, now officially called the State Peace and Development Council, marks its 12th anniversary in power. Sept 20: Aung San Suu Kyi and party deputy chairman Tin Oo say they will travel to Mandalay in renewed defiance of the junta's travel ban. Sept 21: Security forces at Yangon's central station prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from leaving the capital by train for the northern city of Mandalay. Officials claim no tickets are available
BBC
-Thursday, 21 September, 2000, 21:42 GMT 22:42 UK
No
train ticket for Suu Kyi
Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been prevented from leaving the capital, Rangoon, because railway officials said there were no train tickets left. About 100 of her supporters were herded into trucks by military police at the station and taken to an undisclosed location, diplomats and witnesses said. Miss Suu Kyi had been planning to travel to the northern city of Mandalay to investigate reports of a crackdown against her supporters, but was told that all trains were full. The authorities refused to allow her to board the final train of the day which left at 2100 (1330 GMT), eyewitnesses said. The National League for Democracy (NLD) leader's latest challenge to restrictions on her travel ended with her being escorted home by police several hours later. There was tight security around the station, with shops and businesses closed. Police in riot gear kept journalists and diplomats away. Defiant The military authorities have maintained strict controls on Aung San Suu Kyi's travel outside the capital since freeing her from six years of house arrest in 1995. Last month she was involved in a nine-day stand-off with police, after leaving her home and attempting to drive to a party meeting outside the capital. She and her supporters remained camped by the roadside until the authorities ended the protest and placed her under virtual house arrest. Tensions Deputy party chairman Tin Oo, who also intended to travel to Mandalay, had earlier told party supporters he wanted to investigate reports that party members had been prevented from taking party in political activities, and that their offices has been shut down. When Aung San Suu Kyi tried to visit Mandalay in 1996 to visit jailed supporters, her carriage was disconnected from the rest of the train just before it left. Officials blamed technical problems. On Thursday the ruling State Peace and Development Council said the latest events were heightening tensions between the two sides. "The latest 'stand-off' between the SPDC and the NLD and its predictable end, and the predictable media attention, does nothing for the country except to heighten tensions and generate more anger on both sides," it said in a statement. The NLD won Burma's last democratic elections in 1990 by a landslide but the military refused to hand over power. Aung San Suu Kyi was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's military junta on Thursday thwarted pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest attempt to travel out of Yangon - this time by train - by refusing to issue her a ticket. She and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy party were allowed to go to the railway station but were kept from boarding four consecutive trains for the 12-hour journey to Mandalay, the country's second biggest city. They were told that all tickets to Mandalay had been sold out, an NLD official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Earlier, security forces hauled away scores of Suu Kyi's supporters from the station before she embarked on her latest effort to assert her freedom of movement and test the military's resolve to impose the restrictions. Suu Kyi, deputy party leader Tin Oo and about 10 members of the NLD's youth wing could be glimpsed sitting in a waiting lounge at the station after the last train of the day to Mandalay departed at 9:30 p.m. Many plainclothes and uniformed policemen were also in the waiting area, which was barred to ordinary passengers and other outsiders. It was not clear whether Suu Kyi and her party would try to spend the night at the station and attempt to take Friday's trains. Security at the station was tight, and the day's several trains to Mandalay were diverted to a different platform from where Suu Kyi was. The iron-fisted junta disapproves of the Nobel peace laureate's efforts to conduct party work in the countryside and has physically blocked her on several occasions. The last time was on Aug. 24, when she tried to drive to a southern town, which provoked a three-week crackdown on Suu Kyi and her party. As soon as those security restrictions on Suu Kyi and the NLD were lifted Sept. 14, she announced her intention to travel again and dared the government to stop her. By repeatedly locking horns with the military junta, Suu Kyi hopes to keep the international limelight focused on the democracy situation in Myanmar, also known as Burma. On Wednesday, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung told the United Nations (news - web sites) Millennium Assembly that his government has been under ``unfair scrutiny'' and political pressure from other nations while it is in the process of establishing its own kind of democracy. The military has ruled Myanmar continuously since 1962. The current crop of generals took power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for democracy, killing thousands of people. The NLD was formed Sept. 27, 1988, and won national elections in 1990. But the military refused to hand over power. The party is now planning to draft a new constitution.
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