Myanmar's military government frees Suu Kyi's aide<\/p>\n
YANGON (Reuter): Myanmar's military government yesterday
\nreleased a top National League for Democracy (NLD) official
\ndetained last week for questioning over a recent student protest,
\na family member and NLD sources said.<\/p>\n
Kyi Maung, deputy chairman of the NLD and a close advisor to
\nNobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was picked up by the State
\nLaw and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) on Oct. 23 for
\nquestioning over his alleged role in the student protest.<\/p>\n
\"He was returned home at 12.45 p.m. (0615 GMT) today,\" a
\nfamily member said by telephone.<\/p>\n
Official confirmation of his release was not immediately
\navailable.<\/p>\n
Separately, the government yesterday removed blockades barring
\naccess to the road leading to Suu Kyi's house, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
They said the blockades, which were put up last Tuesday, were
\nremoved at around 0700 GMT.<\/p>\n
Kyi Maung's detention and a fresh crackdown on Suu Kyi's NLD
\nby the SLORC sparked widespread condemnation from Western nations
\nand human rights organizations.<\/p>\n
The European Union yesterday imposed strict limits on contacts
\nwith Myanmar officials in response to what the 15-nation bloc
\nsees as a failure to bring in democracy and end human-rights
\nabuses.<\/p>\n
Diplomats said that EU foreign ministers agreed the new
\nrestrictions without discussion as they began a meeting in
\nLuxembourg.<\/p>\n
The ministers agreed to refuse entry visas to senior members
\nof Myanmar's military government and their families, and to
\nsenior members of its armed forces and security services viewed
\nby the EU as impeding the country's transition to democracy.<\/p>\n
They also suspended all high-level EU visits to Myanmar.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the ministers said the military government had
\nfailed \"to demonstrate any willingness to respond to the concerns
\nof the United Nations General Assembly and the European Union\".<\/p>\n
Measures<\/p>\n
\"Further measures may need to be considered,\" the ministers
\nwarned.<\/p>\n
Kyi Maung, 75, was in Yangon's infamous Insein Prison from
\n1990 to 1995 for his involvement in the democracy movement.<\/p>\n
A government official said last week that Kyi Maung was being
\nheld for questioning in a guesthouse to find out if he had
\nadvised two students involved in a protest against the SLORC on
\nOct. 23.<\/p>\n
Kyi Maung was seen talking to two student leaders the day
\nbefore up to 1,000 university students staged the sit-in
\ndemonstration about two kilometers from Suu Kyi's residence, the
\nofficial said.<\/p>\n
The SLORC accused the NLD, especially Kyi Maung, of colluding
\nwith the students in the protest to foment unrest.<\/p>\n
Students involved in last week's demonstration said it was
\napolitical, and held to protest the authorities' rough handling
\nof three students who were briefly arrested following a quarrel
\nat a restaurant.<\/p>\n
A similar scuffle in a tea-shop in 1988 sparked nationwide
\noutrage against the former military regime, leading to pro-
\ndemocracy street demonstrations that left thousands dead or in
\njail.<\/p>\n
The SLORC had blocked vehicle and pedestrian access to
\nUniversity Avenue, the road on which Suu Kyi's house is located,
\nfor most of the past month in an effort to stop various meetings
\nof the NLD from taking place.<\/p>\n
Last week the checkpoints, manned by heavily-armed security
\npolice, were set up to prevent Suu Kyi from holding an NLD
\nmeeting at her house, a government official said.<\/p>\n
The barricades have also stopped Suu Kyi from giving her
\nregular weekend speeches to supporters at her front gates for the
\npast five weekends.<\/p>\n
However, NLD sources said on Sunday that Suu Kyi had left her
\nresidence recently and had been able to hold meetings with senior
\nmembers of her party at her home.<\/p>\n
The NLD won a landslide victory in a 1990 election, but the
\nSLORC never recognized the results.<\/p>",
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