Suu Kyi's associates detained by military

Suu Kyi's associates detained by military

BANGKOK (Reuter): At least five close associates of Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi have been detained by authorities for allegedly smuggling her videotaped speeches abroad, opposition sources said yesterday.

The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was upset when non-governmental organizations obtained and used a smuggled videotaped speech by Suu Kyi opposing Myanmar's inclusion as a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), they told Reuters.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The block recently agreed to accept Myanmar as a new member in late July, despite Suu Kyi's opposition. Cambodia and Laos are to be admitted at the same time.

Relatives and her personal photographer were among those held, a source from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD) said.

There was no SLORC comment on the opposition's statement. Cho Aung Than, a cousin of the Nobel Peace laureate, was picked up for interrogation last Friday, while his sister and her husband were arrested a few days later on the same charge, the NLD source added.

Photographer Ko Suny and Hon Myint, an aging politician who is related to Suu Kyi, were arrested two days ago.

"They interrogated Ko Sunny on what kind of pictures he took and how he managed to ship some video out of the country," a close Suu Kyi aide said.

The NLD source blamed ASEAN for the new round of detentions. "ASEAN will have to bear full responsibility for this because they accepted Burma (Myanmar) into the grouping that gives activists nothing but disservice in Burma," the source said.

Suu Kyi has said that if Myanmar became an ASEAN member it would give the ruling military government a license to repress the opposition movement and suppress human rights further in the country.