Myanmar faces criticism over attack on Suu Kyi
Myanmar faces criticism over attack on Suu Kyi
YANGON (Agencies): Myanmar's military authorities faced renewed international condemnation yesterday following weekend attacks on the motorcade of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Japan called on the Myanmar's government to explain the "regrettable" violence in which Suu Kyi's motorcade was pelted with rocks on three occasions Saturday by a mob she accused of being government agents.
"We call on the Burmese (Myanmar's) government to exercise self-restraint," said Seiroku Kajiyama, Chief Cabinet Secretary and chief spokesman.
The Japanese appeal followed a sharp statement from the United States expressing outrage for the attacks in which the windscreens of two vehicles were smashed and a senior opposition official was slightly injured.
The strongly worded statement from the U.S. embassy here called on the Myanmar's authorities to "punish those responsible for this attack (and) to take every possible means to ensure the safety of Aung San Suu Kyi."
Suu Kyi said the four cars had been attacked by members of the United Solidarity Development Association (USDA) -- a state- sponsored mass movement -- as she left her compound to meet supporters.
Suu Kyi blamed the military government for orchestrating the attack.
"The whole thing was carefully orchestrated by the authorities. What kind of government is it that allows such hooliganism?" Suu Kyi said after the attacks.
Tin Oo, a vice-chairman in Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), suffered a cut to the face when a car window shattered.
Witnesses said USDA members carrying sticks, stones and catapults blocked access to Suu Kyi's house, arriving and departing on buses and pickup trucks in orderly fashion.
A senior Myanmar's government official said yesterday attacks on Suu Kyi were acts of sabotage from which the government had nothing to gain.
"We have launched an inquiry into the incident. We don't have an answer yet," the government official told Reuters in an interview. "There are lots of accusations out there."
"The question is, who gains because of this incident? If it were set up by the government, why would we pick such an inappropriate time when everything was running so smoothly?" he said. "Why would (the government) do it if everybody knows it would have a negative impact?"
He said the attack came just as the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was leaving after a week-long visit to assess Myanmar's readiness to join the seven-nation regional group.
It was also on the eve of a visit by U.S. Senator John McCain, who met on Sunday with senior officials in the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and Suu Kyi and her NLD party.
"Everything was going so smoothly and then this thing happened," the official said.
Fueling the growing international storm, Suu Kyi has issued a videotaped appeal to the European Union calling for economic sanctions against Myanmar. The tape is to be screened Monday before the European parliament,
"Aung San Suu Kyi voices her concerns for the safety of democracy campaigners. She warns that the Myanmarese people are reaching the end of their tolerance," said European deputy Glenys Kinnock, who recorded the tape during a meeting with Suu Kyi during a visit to Myanmar last week.
"She wants the international community to act now because she is afraid that things could become so bad that it would be too late to do anything," she said in Brussels.