WASHINGTON - The military regime in Burma can expect new efforts to isolate it economically and diplomatically unless it releases 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party immediately, pro-democracy activists warned Sunday.

A number of U.S. lawmakers had already been talking about ratcheting up pressure against Burma-- the Southeast Asian nation renamed Myanmar by the military in 1989--following a series of clashes Friday between supporters of the junta and NLD activists gathered to meet with Suu Kyi in the town of Ye-U, about 400 miles north of the capital, Rangoon.

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, second from right, walks among supporters in this May 7, 2002 file photo, at the Shwedagon Buddhist Temple in Yangon, Myanmar, after being released from house arrest by the military junta. Myanmar authorities turned away students from universities on Monday, June 2, 2003 the first day of a new semester, suspending classes just days they detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and closed her partys offices. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

At least one report said that her car had been hit by gunfire in what the Washington-based Free Burma Coalition (FBC) called an assassination attempt. The government denied that account but reported four people killed in the clashes and at least 50 more injured.

Suu Ky was detained at the town and taken to a government house back in the capital where she remains under house arrest, according to reports from Rangoon--renamed Yangon by the military. Security forces have reportedly also surrounded the homes of other senior NLD leaders around the country, effectively placing them under house arrest. The junta said the detentions were for their own protection.

The junta also announced that all university campuses and colleges, strongholds of anti-military sentiment since the mid-1980s, have been closed indefinitely, while NLD offices around the country have been padlocked and some its provincial leaders arrested.

"This is the regime's most serious crackdown on democracy in years," said Aung Din, FBC's director for policy. "This latest outrage proves yet again that Burma's regime has lied to the international community and lied to the Burmese people."

The United Nations, which has been mediating between Suu Kyi and the junta since before she was released from 19 months of house arrest last year, released a statement Saturday night saying that Secretary General Kofi Annan was following developments "closely and with concern," while Britain condemned the violence and detentions.

Activists said the events marked the latest in a series of escalating attacks against both Suu Kyi and the NLD, which in 1990 swept national elections that were ignored by the military. It was hoped that her release last year would intensify a dialogue that began when she was still under house arrest, but in recent months the opposition leader indicated that those efforts had not borne fruit.

She has been touring the country to meet with her supporters. While tens of thousands of people have turned out to greet her, the junta's political arm, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), has also mobilized protesters against her.

Earlier this month, two U.S. congressmen, Peter King (R-NY) and Michael Capuano (D-MA) harshly criticized what they described as increasingly violent USDA attacks on Suu Kyi and her supporters and suggested that they would seek stronger sanctions if such harassment persisted.

The administration of former President Bill Clinton imposed a ban on new investment by U.S. companies doing business in Burma in 1997, and activists have urged a comprehensive ban on trade with the country.

"Many leading members of Congress will be looking to pass a new set of comprehensive sanctions against the regime," predicted Aung Din. "These killings and arrests demonstrate that increased international pressure through sanctions and isolating the regime politically and economically is the only policy option we have to press for the removal of the regime and recognition of the 1990 democratically elected parliament."

Suu Kyi has a number of powerful defenders in Congress, including Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

Activists here have already had significant success in persuading many U.S. companies doing business in Burma to withdraw from the country until it takes credible steps toward democratic government. The junta's human rights record, particularly in regard to forced labor and persecution of minorities, has added to pressure on companies to cut business and trade ties.

Last month the Free Burma Coalition and other groups scored a major victory when the American Apparel & Footwear Association, a trade group that represents U.S. footwear and clothing wholesalers, announced it would lobby for a ban on footwear and apparel exports from Burma.

Burmese textile and shoe exports to the U.S. rose sharply in the late 1990s, but have fallen off since 2001 as more companies, under activist pressure, pledged to halt all imports from Burma.

© 2003 OneWorld.net

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