Activists in the US expressed concern yesterday over what they termed a "major crack down" on the democracy movement in Myanmar and a possible attempt to assassinate opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to the military rulers, she was put under "protective custody" in northern Myanmar along with 18 members of her entourage after clashes between her supporters and a pro-junta mob on Friday left four dead and 50 injured.
The opposition leader had been on a month-long political tour of Myanmar's north during which she had been subject to "intensifying attacks perpetrated by the political arm of the regime," the US-based activists said.
"Throughout her trip she's been consistently harassed by members of the USDA," the junta-sponsored Union Solidarity Development Association, said Jeremy Woodrum, Washington director of the Free Burma Coalition (FBC).
Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers "don't ever, ever use violence," he insisted, challenging the government's characterization of the incident Friday.
"The military regime is trying to make it seem as if there are people inside the country who oppose Aung San Suu Kyi. In their official version of events they'll state that there was a clash between Suu Kyi and people who don't like her," he said.
"The two sides going at it -- that's impossible to imagine," he added.
Members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and villagers were merely attempting to defend themselves, FBC said.
The incident could well have been an attempt to assassinate Aung San Suu Kyi, said Aung Din, a former political prisoner in Myanmar who is policy director for FBC.
"According to CNN news and sources inside Burma, there was a gunshot, so this is an attempt to assassinate our leader," Aung Din said. CNN had reported that Aung San Suu Kyi's car was hit by gunfire.
"In Burma nobody is allowed to own a weapon except for members of the armed forces and the police," he said.
Aung San Suu Kyi departed on the trip to northern Myanmar on May 6, the first anniversary of her release from 19 months under house arrest, and had been due to return to Yangon on June 4.
Despite attempts to intimidate her supporters in northern Myanmar, they turned out "wholeheartedly to welcome her," Aung Din said.
"This is the thing that the regime is scared of, the solidarity between Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma."
Following the arrest, NLD offices across the country were padlocked, office equipment was confiscated and party flags and photos were torn down, he said.
Top NLD leaders were put under house arrest, he added, including NLD chairman U Aung Shwe and NLD secretary and spokesman U Lwin.
"This is major crackdown on the democracy movement inside Burma," he said.
Junta sources confirmed yesterday that seven top leaders of the NDL had been put under house arrest and all major party offices had been closed.
Myanmar's state-run press was openly critical of Aung San Suu Kyi over the weekend, while the government blamed the outbreak of violence directly on her.
"These incidents happened because Aung San Suu Kyi had taken advantage of her party organizational trip to campaign publicly, thereby making many people resent her actions," Labour Minister Tinn Win told reporters Saturday.
In Kuala Lumpur, the UN special envoy to Myanmar said yesterday his upcoming visit to Yangon would go ahead despite the developments there.
Former Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail was expected in Myanmar from June 6 to 10 in an attempt to start substantive political dialogue between the country's generals and the NLD.
"We were expecting that they would do some kind of negotiation," Aung Din said of Ismail's visit. "Now we have lost that expectation."
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