Concern grows for safety of Suu Kyi in Burma

BURMA: Concern over the safety of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has intensified following the appointment of a hardline military chief to Burma's top government post.

The US said yesterday that it suspected the new prime minister, Lieut Gen Soe Win, to have been directly involved in the "brutal attack" on Suu Kyi and her supporters near Mandalay in May 2003.

"We see no indication that the leadership change will have any tangible impact on relations between the junta and the democratic opposition," a US State Department spokesman said.

Khin Nyunt, who was ousted this week, was the architect of a tentative "road map to democracy".

Irish campaigners for Suu Kyi's release yesterday joined the international chorus of outrage over the appointment.

Mr John Copley of Burma Action Ireland said: "The consensus from the official opposition in Burma is that Suu Kyi is in a more perilous situation now than a fortnight ago.

"It's quite possible the regime will make a serious move to isolate her further," he added. "They may move her from house arrest into prison or they may release her and she might meet with an 'accident'."

Suu Kyi, who was first put under house arrest by the junta nine years ago this Sunday, was set upon by what the US described as "government-affiliated thugs" on the last occasion of her release 16 months ago.

Mr Copley urged the Government to use its influence in the EU to increase diplomatic and economic sanctions against the military regime.

"The UN has to debate the position of Burma," he said. "The regime is a destabilising influence in the region. It has proven now it is completely opposed to progress."

Mr Justin Kilcullen, director of Trócaire, said the removal of reformist Khin Nyunt after just over a year in office "will give the impression to the Burma regime that they can continue to act with impunity. Silence and inaction by the international community are unacceptable."

Mr Sunai Phasuk, a Thai consultant for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said: "The only slight chance Myanmar could transform into a democratic country has ended after the man who commanded the paramilitary troops that wanted to kill Suu Kyi has become the prime minister."

Additional reporting Reuters