Suu Kyi pressed ahead of meeting

Suu Kyi pressed ahead of meeting

YANGON (AFP): Myanmar's ruling junta stepped up pressure on
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi before next week's Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting in
Bangkok, calling for her to be thrown out of Myanmar.

"The whole nation is totally fed up with Aung San Suu Kyi and
her ilk, who are heartlessly following the principle of total
destruction by hindering development," said an officially-
inspired commentary in the state Mirror newspaper.

The junta's harsh critique of Aung San Suu Kyi was in response
to the Nobel peace laureate's statement on Friday urging ASEAN to
help bring democracy to Myanmar, analysts in Yangon said.

Since Friday's statement, there have been numerous attacks on
Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar's state-dominated press.

In the statement, Aung San Suu Kyi said authoritarian rule had
done nothing to benefit Myanmar, and that the advent of peace and
democracy would bear fruit for the whole region.