Suu Kyi wraps up lengthy trip to Shan state ( AFP ) November 27, 2002


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Suu Kyi wraps up lengthy trip to Shan state

Rangoon, Nov 27 (AFP)

Burma's pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi left Shan state for home Wednesday, wrapping up her longest political trip outside the capital since the military junta first placed her under house arrest 13 years ago.

"From a political organization point of view, it was quite successful," U Lwin, spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), told AFP of the mission on which the opposition leader was often greeted by throngs of supporters.

"She is on her way back to Rangoon," he said, calling Yangon by its former name.

By mid-day she had reached the oil town of Yenangyaung, on the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy River some 370 miles (590 kilometres) north of Rangoon, U Lwin said.

She was due to arrive late Wednesday, but heavy flooding in the north threatened to delay her arrival by a day.

The Nobel peace laureate took full advantage of her May freedom from house arrest, spending two weeks criss-crossing the restive state known for its simmering ethnic rebellions.

She presided over the re-opening of four NLD offices in Shan state, bringing to 72 the number of offices reopened since an easing of restrictions on the NLD. More than 230 remain shuttered, however, U Lwin said.

On several occasions Aung San Suu Kyi was met by large numbers of supporters who lined roads and congregated in villages where she stopped.

"We did not expect such huge crowds to greet her," U Lwin said.

A cheering crowd of about 30,000 gathered in Lashio, the capital of northern Shan state, to hear her speak despite what U Lwin described as "warnings by the authorities that no one should come and greet her."

Aung San Suu Kyi has made several political trips around the country since she was released in May from 19 months under house arrest with a guarantee that she would have complete freedom of movement.

Her trips have gone off smoothly, although Rangoon is informed of her movements in advance and dispatches a security detail for her "protection" wherever she goes.

In Shan state she met with the state's major nationalities in efforts to engage various ethnic groups who till now have been excluded from national reconciliation talks between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the democratic opposition.

"This trip was very important because this is the area with the most ethnic diversity," U Lwin said.

It came at a sensitive time for Shan state, which has been in the spotlight recently with the release of a report alleging systematic sexual abuse of ethnic minority women there.

Two UN envoys, Razali Ismail and human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, visited Burma recently but both cancelled their scheduled trips to Shan state.

Ethnic Shan rebels who oppose Rangoon rule said that Burmese government troops had attacked one of their positions during Aung San Suu Kyi's visit and accused them of attempting to disrupt her trip.

Aung San Suu Kyi was already considering her next political trip, U Lwin said, though he did not offer a destination.

"There are many more places to go," he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi was first placed under house arrest in 1989, a year before her NLD party won a sweeping election victory that was never recognized by the junta.

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