Burma Abuzz Over Possible Release of Suu Kyi

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RANGOON — The detention of Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi expires early next month, but officials said Friday that only the ruling junta chief knows exactly when she will be granted freedom.
The Nobel Peace laureate has been locked away for 15 of the past 21 years, ever since her opposition party swept the country's last elections in 1990, and the military refused to cede power.


Her latest term of house arrest ends Nov. 13, just days after the junta plans to hold the first elections since those ignored polls—timing that analysts say is hardly coincidental. There is wide speculation the junta will release her as an olive branch to the international community after its expected win in elections that many observers have decried as so rigged as to be meaningless.
But Suu Kyi's detention is considered a matter of national security and officials say any decision to release her would be made at the last-minute by Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the junta chief.

"We can assume that she will be released on Nov. 13, but we cannot say with certainty that it will happen. Only the junta chief will know if or when the release can happen," said one of two officials interviewed. "It is too early to say that she will be released on Nov. 13."
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy opposition party is boycotting the elections, which it calls unfair and undemocratic. As a result of not registering for the polls, the party has been dissolved, leaving no group that can effectively challenge the junta-backed party, which is expected to sweep the polls.

Critics call the country's first elections in two decades a sham and say the military shows no sign of genuinely relinquishing power.

The London-based rights group Burma Campaign UK issued a statement to express caution over recent reports about Suu Kyi's imminent freedom.
"We'll believe it when we see it," said Mark Farmaner, the group's director. "Regime officials have said similar things in the past, and Aung San Suu Kyi has remained in detention."
If Suu Kyi is released, it would be wrong to attach too much political significance to it, Farmaner said.

"She has been released twice before without there being any political change in the country," he said. "It is more likely that the dictatorship will try to use her release to attempt to persuade the international community to relax pressure on them."
The international community has long demand the release of Suu Kyi and more than 2,100 political prisoners.
-----------------------------------
Junta Blames Blast on Anti-Election Groups
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RANGOON — Burma's military government said a bomb explosion damaged a local municipal office and blamed "political opportunists" of stepping up violence to disrupt next month's elections, state media reported Friday.

The state-controlled Myanma Ahlin newspaper said the blast occurred Wednesday evening in Pegu,also known as Bago, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Rangoon. The device was described as a time-bomb made of TNT that blew a hole in a fence-like wall outside the local council office and shattered two office windows. No one was hurt.
The report blamed two other recent attempted attacks—the discovery of a bomb near a Rangoon tourist market and mines at a power grid outside the city—on a wide variety of anti-government groups.

It accused "insurgents, destructive elements and political opportunists who are trying to ramp up instigation and destructive acts with the aim of disrupting the upcoming multiparty democracy election."
Burma's first election in two decades will take place on Nov. 7. Critics say the polls are a sham designed to cement military rule. The country has been ruled by military governments since 1962.

Reports in Burmese newspapers are viewed as reflections of the junta's views.
Wednesday's explosion occurred a day after Burma's prime minister warned citizens to protect the country's image during November elections and to prevent anyone from derailing the vote.

The junta's biggest perceived threat is the popularity of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, even though she remains under house arrest and her opposition party is boycotting elections.

Suu Kyi has been in jail or under house detention for 15 of the past 21 years. Her latest term of house arrest expires Nov. 13, just days after the vote.