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| Published in Washington, D.C. July 20, 1995 |
Suu Kyi maintains low key during first blush of freedom
By Richard S. Ehrlich
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
RANGOON, Burma
Dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained mostly out of the public eye yesterday as she visited her father's tomb accompanied by military officials.
Draped in black, the sad-faced Mrs. Suu Kyi paid her first visit to her assassinated father's tomb since she gained freedom July 10 after six years under house arrest.
She arrived and left the tomb in a black car, unseen by the general public and accompanied by Defense Intelligence liaison officer Lt. Col. Than Tun. She has not publicly toured Rangoon or the nation since her release.
The public's only live glimpse of Mrs. Suu Kyi has been at about 3 p.m. each day, when she has appeared at her spike-topped fence on a wooden platform. Over two loudspeakers perched in the trees, she addresses supporters with five or 10 minutes of idealistic slogans and promises.
"I'm working in such a way, that it poses no danger to anyone," she said yesterday to about 1,000 cheering Burmese in her driveway.
A Burmese political analyst said her strategy of avoiding a public tour and stressing peaceful dialogue with the military junta was designed to safeguard members of the public who might otherwise be arrested -- or worse.
Mrs. Suu Kyi has spent much of the past week meeting members of her National League for Democracy party, who have flocked to her home from around the country.
They have been updating her on how the past six years of arrests, infighting and government censorship have decimated their ranks.
Her father, Gen. Aung San, died in a hail of gunfire -- along with his Cabinet -- about six months before Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948.
He collaborated with the Japanese during World War II in an effort to drive out the British, but later cut a deal with the Allies when Tokyo rejected Burma's independence.
Mrs. Suu Kyi had requested a meeting with leaders of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, but they have not yet agreed to talk.
Yesterday afternoon she invited foreign correspondents, diplomats and others to tea at her stately, two-story home where she languished under house arrest since July 1989. She insisted visitors limit conversations with her to small talk.