By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party will "meet their tragic end" if they stick to their position including support for Western sanctions, state media said on Sunday.
In the first direct criticism of Suu Kyi since she was released from house arrest in November, days after a pro-military party swept elections widely dismissed as unfair, state media also invited Suu Kyi to cooperate "in building a democratic nation."
"If Daw Suu Kyi and the NLD keep going to the wrong way ignoring the fact that today's Myanmar is marching to a new era, new system and new political platforms paving the way for democracy, they will meet their tragic end," state-run newspapers said in a commentary.
"Daw" is an honorific for women.
The state-run newspapers have long been mouthpieces of the military, which ruled the country, also known as Burma, after taking power in a 1962 coup.
Myanmar held its first elections in two decades last November, but the military shows no sign of loosening its grip on power even though a new civilian-led administration is officially taking over.
The warning to Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the previous election in 1990 but was never allowed to govern, comes days after the NLD said it supported Western sanctions but wanted talks on whether to modify them.
Suu Kyi, asked by Reuters at a party function on Saturday to elaborate, said she saw no reason to lift sanctions now.
The newspaper commentary, titled "Sanctions, Daw Suu Kyi and NLD," was signed Yan Gyi Aung, which means Great Victor and was apparently a pseudonym. Commentaries frequently carry such pen-names in state-run newspapers.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the country's independence hero, has been excluded from politics since 1989, when she was first detained, a year after the military crushed a student-led uprising.
She has no stake in the new army-dominated system and authorities have ignored her calls for dialogue.
"BIG-HEADED"
Western countries including the United States and the European Union, have imposed sanctions because of Myanmar's human rights record and its suppression of the democracy movement.
There have been hopes last year's election, and Suu Kyi's release, would lead to the end of sanctions on the resource-rich country. Analysts say Western governments will pay heed to Suu Kyi's opinion when deciding whether to maintain sanctions.
Critics say sanctions have not worked and they leave others such as China, India, Thailand and Singapore free to do growing volumes of business with impoverished Myanmar.
The commentary author accused the 65-year-old Nobel laureate and her party of instigating the sanctions.
"Her stance on sanctions has become the policy of theirs," he said, referring to Western governments.
"How big-headed the NLD is to stick to the weapon of sanctions until it gains power by demanding that any changes and modifications should be made in consultation with the party, let alone lifting the sanctions."
But on a conciliatory note, the author did invite Suu Kyi and her party to participate in public life.
"I would like to invite them to cooperate with the people in building a democratic nation in the interests of the nation and the people," Yan Gyi Aung said. He did not elaborate.
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Ron Popeski)
