Myanmar opposition urges UN probe of 2003 clash

United Nations, May 3: More than 30 members of Myanmar's opposition have asked the United Nations to inquire into a bloody clash four years ago that led to the latest detention of their leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The letter, signed by 34 members of the National League for Democracy, or NLD, who said they were ''victims and survivors'' of the incident, was addressed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. It was made public yesterday by the US Campaign for Burma, the former name of Myanmar.

May 30 marks the fourth anniversary of the killings near Depayin Township in central Myanmar. The group said it had taken years for some of the survivors to come forward and asked the press to withhold their names.

The letter called on Ban and Khalilzad, current president of the Security Council, to launch an international commission of inquiry into the clash between backers of the ruling military junta and opposition figures.

Opposition supporters say about 100 NLD members were killed in the incident. The West has accused junta supporters of ambushing Suu Kyi's convoy, a charge the government has denied.

The government blamed Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, for the violence and took her into ''protective custody.'' She and her deputy, U Tin Oo, have been in jail or under house arrest since the incident.

The letter called for the release of both. ''We are not demanding revenge, but we are calling for accountability of those responsible and to stop the practice of violence and terror in Burma/Myanmar,'' it said.

The NLD overwhelmingly won parliamentary elections in 1990 -- the first in 30 years -- but the military, which has ruled Myanmar in one form or another since 1962, ignored the result and refused to relinquish power.

Aung Din, policy director of the US Campaign for Burma, said his organization was hoping for UN action during May, in which the United States, a leading critic of the Myanmar government, is chairing the Security Council.

Reuters>