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Suu Kyi: U.N. mission hangs in balance

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE June 8. The U.N. mission to secure the release of the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, today hung in the balance. There was no indication whether the U.N. special envoy, Razali Ismail, might at least be able to meet her. Ms. Suu Ky is in the "protective custody'' of the military junta.

The expectation today was that Mr. Razali might be able to meet Myanmar's top ruler and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, in Yangon on Monday. Should that meeting take place, the U.N. envoy might be able to assess the possibilities of securing Ms. Suu Kyi's release in the present circumstances.

At the very least, Mr. Razali might then know whether he could call on the Nobel Peace prize winner and leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD).

Apart from the U.S., several regional players, as also China besides India, are believed to be exerting pressure, varying from the very mild to the very abrasive kind, on the Myanmar authorities.

It is important for Mr. Razali to meet Ms. Suu Kyi if only because he could then ascertain the circumstances in which she was taken into custody over a week ago and know whether she was injured in the clashes that preceded her latest detention. The military authorities, some of whom Mr. Razali has met since his arrival in Yangon three days ago, have maintained that those clashes, which involved the NLD activists and the pro-junta protesters, justified the curbs on Ms. Suu Kyi's movement.

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