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Suu Kyi pays respect to Aung San |
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July 20, 2000
YANGON (AP) - Prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday laid flowers at the tomb of her father, Myanmar's leading independence hero, at a state ceremony marking the 53rd anniversary of his assassination. With a black shawl wrapped around her shoulders, a solemn-looking Suu Kyi, 55, knelt and paid respects in Buddhist fashion at the mausoleum of Gen. Aung San at the foot of Yangon's towering Shwedagon Pagoda. Martyrs' Day commemorates the assassination of Aung San, six ministers and two others who were machine-gunned during a Cabinet meeting July 19, 1947, in an attack orchestrated by a political rival and aided by renegade British intelligence officers. It is the only event of the year where Suu Kyi is allowed to take part in official ceremonies and where she is pictured on state-dominated television. Aung San was the founder of Myanmar's army and is respected as a national hero by the ruling military regime for his leading role in the struggle for independence from Britain. Suu Kyi is seen as a traitor. Suu Kyi arrived by black sedan and was accompanied by Col. Than Tun, her military liaison officer during her six years of house arrest from 1989-1995. She laid three baskets of red roses and white daisies, soon after her brother, who is visiting from the United States, had laid a wreath of white flowers. None of the top generals of the ruling State Peace and Development Council attended. Culture Minister Win Sein led the government representatives. Family members of the assassinated leaders and diplomats were also present. Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy that swept 1990 general elections in Myanmar, also known as Burma, that the military never honored, was to hold a private religious ceremony at the NLD headquarters later Wednesday. Despite her release from house arrest in 1995, Suu Kyi's movements and political activities are still heavily restricted.
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