Forwarded with Compliments of Government of the USA in Exile (GUSAE):Ý Free Americans Reaching Out to Amerika's Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free.ÝÝ NOTE:Ý Thanks to Irrawaddy.org for this.ÝÝ --Ý kl, pp

Witness Account Contradicts Junta's Reports

June 03, 2003-Police and thugs attacked students traveling with Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she visited northern Burma, according to a new eyewitness account obtained by Radio Free Asia (RFA) Burmese service. This account contradicts the junta's claim that deadly violence erupted spontaneously between rival pro- and anti-government factions.

Aung San Suu Kyi reached Saing Byin Gyi village, about 500 miles north of Rangoon, at approximately 6:30 pm local time Friday, where she made remarks aimed at encouraging the relatives of detained National League for Democracy (NLD) members, according to the account. At about 7:00 pm, two miles outside of Depayin village, about five trucks loaded with members of the junta-sponsored Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA) stopped Suu Kyi and her supporters in the road. Police, men dressed as monks, and convicts streamed out of the trucks.

Guided by the headlights of their vehicles, the USDA members charged several hundred NLD supporters and Aung San Suu Kyi's entourage with bamboo stakes between two and three feet long, according to the eyewitness account.

"When the attackers tried to hit Aung San Suu Kyi's car, four or five students covered her with their bodies, and they were beaten hard. The driver turned the car onto a dirt road and drove off. NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo was also beaten up and was seen being taken away by three policemen," said the eyewitness.

"A group of motorcyclists who tried to follow Aung San Suu Kyi's car were intercepted between Butalin and Monywa, and about 100 police beat up the riders. The bodies of a young monk and a student killed in the clash were taken back to Monywa. However, two military trucks chased those with the bodies and the group had to flee, leaving the bodies, which the soldiers took away with them."

The ruling junta, which has controlled Burma since a violent crackdown of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, has claimed that violent clashes between NLD supporters and thousands of pro-government protesters left four people dead and 50 injured. The government also claims to have placed Aung San Suu Kyi and 19 members of her party in "protective custody." Unconfirmed reports say Suu Kyi is being held at an army guest house in the capital.

Reports of what exactly happened on Friday remain sketchy, in part because the junta has cut the phone lines of residents near where the incident occurred and the phones of senior NLD members.

This article is reprinted with permission from Radio Free Asia. [Top]

Schools Closed to Quash Dissent

The Irrawaddy

June 03, 2003-Students across Burma are angry at the closure of universities and colleges following the junta's crackdown on the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and the arrest of leader Aung San Suu Kyi last Friday.

ÝIn our country, students can never do well because universities open and close all the time S¼ it always depends on political conditions. -a university student in Rangoon.

Universities and colleges under the Ministry of Education were due to reopen yesterday, but have been closed indefinitely. So far, there has been no announcement from the government about the closure, but students nationwide were turned away by military personnel guarding university entrances.

Since 1988, the military regime has shut down schools and universities on numerous occasions to avoid student-organized protests.

"In our country, students can never do well because universities open and close all the time," a senior student of Dagon University in Rangoon said. "It always depends on political conditions."

A lecturer at Mandalay University said: "As long as there is political unrest in our country, schools will continue to be closed like this. The universities are always a trigger point for any protest against the regime."

A well-known author in Rangoon said military leaders never consider the impact of the closures on students. They are just concerned with finding ways to hold on to power forever, he said.

For as long as the junta does wrong by its people, the students will protest against them, the author warned.

In the late 1980s, government ideas were challenged on university campuses and from there, anti-government sentiment quickly spread to Burmese from all walks of life. After the democratic uprising in 1988 the junta closed down universities and colleges for three years.

Between 1996 and 2000, universities and colleges were closed in response to demonstrations led by students in the capital.

The Thai-based Foreign Affairs Committee of the All-Burma Federation of Student Unions condemned the shutdown as a denial of one of the fundamental rights for young people.

"We strongly object to the closure of universities," said Min Naing, a spokesperson for the ABFSU. "Because the regime often shuts down the universities, students continue to suffer from an unstable education system." [Top]

Junta Says Suu Kyi Unhurt

The Irrawaddy

June 03, 2003-Burma's military government has denied reports that Aung San Suu Kyi was harmed during clashes in Upper Burma on Friday.

Speaking to diplomats in Rangoon today, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win said Suu Kyi is fine. He added that she is in protective custody but did not say where she is being held.

Opposition sources in exile earlier claimed that Suu Kyi had received a head injury. Htain Linn, a former editor of the Botahtaung newspaper said, "People are worried for Suu Kyi. If she is unhurt, she should be allowed to meet diplomats and the press, even CNN. People want to know where she is."

Meanwhile, Razali Ismail, UN special envoy to Burma is going ahead with his visit to Burma, set to begin on June 6. It is not certain whether he will be allowed to meet Suu Kyi.

In Rangoon, residents have expressed concern over the news reports of a violent crash and the detention of NLD members. "People whispered about Suu Kyi at tea shops-obviously people were shocked and angry," said a magazine editor in the capital.

He also said news broadcast by foreign radio stations have helped people catch up with latest developments. BBC, Radio Free Asia, the Democratic Voice of Burma and the Voice of America have extensively covered the latest events and Suu Kyi's political tour of the north.

Rangoon is calm but tension in upper Burma is steadily rising, said some observers inside the country. In Mandalay, soldiers with guns were seen in the downtown area. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ