Aung San Suu Kyi Mourns Death of Husband, Thanks Supporters
YANGON, March 27 (AFP) -
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi mourned the death Saturday of her husband Michael Aris, who passed away in a British hospital.
"On behalf of my sons, Alexander and Kim, as well as on my own behalf, I want to thank all those around the world who have supported my husband during his illness and have given me and my family love and sympathy," she said in a statement here.
"I have been so fortunate to have such a wonderful husband, who had always given me the understanding I needed. Nothing can take that away from me," she said.
Diplomatic sources in Yangon said Aris, who was suffering from cancer, passed away at about 0530 GMT on his 53rd birthday. In London, the Foreign Office confirmed his death.
Myanmar authorities had been stalling on a visa application by Aris who wanted to pay a farewell visit to his wife in Yangon. They said they preferred Aung San Suu Kyi travel to see him and had guaranteed Friday that they would allow her back into the country.
Aides to Aung San Suu Kyi and junta sources said Saturday the Nobel peace laureate, who is locked in a bitter political struggle with Myanmar's military government, had declined to leave the country.
Military envoy Colonel Than Tun who visited Aung San Suu Kyi at her Yangon home on Friday to offer a "guarantee" she could return after the trip, said she had turned that offer down. He quoted her as saying "I am not going" before directing him to the door.
"I took (it) as an indication for me to leave and I did just so," Than Tun told AFP. Opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) sources confirmed that account of the meeting.
"She will not go," one party member said, adding that Aung San Suu Kyi had often remarked that her personal plight was insignificant compared to hundreds of other NLD members -- many languishing in state jails.
Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party won a landslide victory in elections in 1990, but the military has refused to hand over power and has tried to crush party support. Sources said the Nobel laureate had reminded anyone suggesting she go to Britain that many party members had died in prison without being able to see their families.
Aung San Suu Kyi met British academic Aris in London in the early 1970s when she was studying at the London School for Oriental Studies and working for the United Nations. They were married in 1972, and had two sons.
Aris made a number of visits to Myanmar since his wife, the daughter of independence hero Aung San, returned to the country in 1988 and emerged at the head of the pro-democracy movement. He was last in Myanmar between December 18, 1995 and January 16, 1996 but several subsequent visa requests are believed to have been denied.
