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.