RFA Reports Details of End of Roadside Stand-off in Burma

Washington, D.C. — ; In a phone interview with Radio Free Asia (R U Tin Oo, vice chairman of the National League for Democracy, revealed details of the forceful end to the nine-day roadside stand-off in Dallah by military authorities. The hostile end to the stand-off included Aung San Suu Kyi being awakened and dragged from her car at about 11:45 p.m. on September 2. According to U Tin Oo, approximately 200 security forces participated in the raid. U Tin Oo said, ?I was sleeping in the car with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, she was sleeping in the rear seat and I was sleeping in the front seat. ?we heard a commotion outside, people shouting and grappling with one another.? The commotion was ?between the young people who were looking after us and the security forces. As that was going on, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was pulled out of the car [by military forces], someone grabbed her by her armpits and dragged her from the car. ?While being dragged away and later carried, I could hear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi shouting, ?what are you doing, don?t do this, don?t treat me in this rude manner,?? U Tin Oo recalled. ?When I realized that she had been taken away, I tried to go after her but I was carried away by the security forces. I kept asking them where Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was and why they were doing this. They replied that she was in front and that we were being taken back to our homes. They carried us to the street and put me in a car and locked the doors. I kept asking about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and they said that she was in another car. After waiting for about an hour, we were driven to the jetty to cross the river. We were taken across the river by a military Z-craft and when we arrived on the Rangoon side of the river, they took Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in a separate car and took us to our respective homes.? On September 2, military authorities in Burma announced that Aung San Suu Kyi had been ?escorted he and raided NLD headquarters. Senior members of the NLD were placed under house arrest until September 14. RFA?s Burmese service reporter U Sein Kyaw Hlaing, reached U Tin Oo at his home in Rangoon just after his release from house arrest. During the interview, U Tin Oo described his release from house arrest and the Dallah stand-off. The interview was broadcast via short wave to Burma by RFA on September 14 during the 9:30 p.m. program and on September 15 during the 7:00 a.m. program. The interview can be heard on RFA?s Web site at: https://www.rfa.org/audio.cgi?service=Burmese in MP3 format or in Real Audio.. Radio Free Asia is a private corporation that was established in 1996 to provide news and information to listeners in China, Tibet, Vietnam, Burma, North Korea, Laos and Cambodia. It is funded by grants from Congress. RFA?s mission is to be a forum for a variety of opinions and voices from within Asian nations whose people do not have full freedom of expression. Listener confidence in the quality and credibility of its broadcasts is RFA?s highest priority. RFA is a journalistically independent organization whose autonomy is key to providing objective domestic news and information.