NAT: Memorial service in Melbourne for Suu Kyi s husband

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-1999
NAT: Memorial service in Melbourne for Suu Kyi s husband

MELBOURNE, April 2 AAP - A combined Buddhist and Christian memorial service was to be held
in Melbourne today for Michael Aris, husband of Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The service at St Mark's Anglican Church, being held at the request of Ms Suu Kyi, will
coincide with a major Buddhist ceremony in the Burmese capital Rangoon, seven days after Dr
Aris' death, in line with Buddhist tradition.

A former Australian ambassador to Burma, Garry Woodard, is due to speak at the Melbourne
service, being held at 5pm (AEST), which will include both Christian and Buddhist elements.

The vicar at St Mark's, Alan Nichols, met Ms Suu Kyi during a visit to Rangoon last
year, and had known Dr Aris, an Oxford academic, for several years.

Burmese authorities had denied Dr Aris a visa to make a final visit to his wife, claiming
Ms Suu Kyi should have travelled to Britain to see him, however Ms Suu Kyi feared that if she
went, she would have been barred from returning to her homeland.

AAP gf/was

KEYWORD: BURMA AUST

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