Junta breaks protest by Suu Kyi, aides

By Amit Baruah

JAKARTA, SEPT. 2. Myanmar military authorities are said to have ended a nine-day-long protest by the country's pro-democracy leader, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, a little distance from the capital Yangon.

While the Myanmar Government claimed that it had ``facilitated'' the ``safe and convenient return'' of Ms. Suu Kyi and her associates to their homes on Saturday morning, Mr. Tin Oo, vice- chairman of the National League for Democracy, said the group was ``brought back forcefully''.

``Daw Suu Kyi, her travel companions and all the attendants arrived home fit and sound this morning after their stay in Dala town (outside Yangon),'' the Government said in a statement.

Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, Myanmar's intelligence chief, said his country would not succumb to foreign pressure on a return to elected Government.

``Today, some countries are exerting all kinds of pressure on Myanmar in their efforts to cast it in their own mould,'' the General said, adding that they were using ``every pretext, from forced labour and narcotic drugs to health and education conditions'' to interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs. ``In fact, everyone is aware that the policy of exerting undue pressures and economic sanctions is a failure....and relying on its own resources, Myanmar will continue to follow the path best suited to its own conditions,'' the General was quoted as saying.

AFP reports:

Military authorities today raided the headquarters of Ms Suu Kyi's political party.

In an apparent crackdown on Opposition forces, a large number of riot police and intelligence officers occupied the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), an official source said. ``A huge amount of incriminatory materials and documents have been seized during the raid,'' it said.

An unknown number of NLD members who had been in the building overnight were still inside, another source said, although it was not clear if they had been detained.

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Section  : International
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