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Suu Kyi in donation row

Democracy icon defends fund linked to junta

AFP, Naypyidaw
Myanmar pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday defended her party's controversial decision to accept donations from businessmen close to the former junta for its education fund.
The issue has highlighted the Nobel Peace laureate's dilemma of how closely to work with members of the former junta and their associates as the country also known as Burma emerges from almost half a century of military rule.
"Let them donate if they donate for good things," Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and lower house lawmaker, told AFP in the capital Naypyidaw when asked about the controversy.
"I don't understand why we cannot accept it. If it's illegal money, we won't accept it. If it's legal money, why not as it's for a good cause?"
The decision by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) to take money from "cronies" of the generals who ruled the country with an iron fist for decades has raised eyebrows given her long stand against the regime.
The donors at a party fundraising concert in December included Air Bagan and Asia Green Development Bank, both owned by prominent tycoon Tay Za, once described by the US Treasury as "a notori-
ous regime henchman and arms dealer".
The NLD says it received a total of 500 million kyat ($580,000) from the event, making a profit of 320 million kyat after costs. Tay Za's companies donated a combined 70 million kyat.
The family of another crony Kyaw Win, head of the media giant Skynet, paid nearly $50,000 for a jumper knitted by Suu Kyi at a charity auction last month.
The NLD says the money will be used to help provide free education for 10,000 students.
Suu Kyi, who spent much of the past two decades under house arrest, is focused on her new political role following her election last year to a parliament dominated by the military and its political allies.
With the NLD setting its sights on those polls, the veteran activist has also been careful not to antagonise voters over sensitive issues such as the plight of the country's stateless Rohingya Muslims, disappointing some rights campaigners who want her to do more to help minority groups.
"We have survived the past two decades with only our spirit of belief. It's important to continue with this spirit," said NLD lawmaker Min Thu. "Without using our own money, we couldn't have survived more than 20 years."