Daily Press Briefing by U.S. State

[freeburma@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Daily Press Briefing by U.S. State Dept. on June 13, 1996

Attn: Burma and Burmese Activists
Re: Press Briefing by U.S. State Dept. on June 13, 1996
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                 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
                    DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

                                                  DPB #95

             THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1996, 1:23 P.M.
           (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)


      Q     I have one more question.  Could you tell me the
schedule of the Special Envoys, Stanley Roth and Mr. Brown? 
Where are they right now?  Are they going to Burma?

       MR. BURNS:  As you know, they've been in a variety of
places.  They've been in Manila, they've been in Singapore,
in Tokyo.  I believe this morning they were in Kuala Lumpur,
and they may be heading to yet another country in the
region, perhaps Jakarta.

       When they complete their tour through the region,
they'll return to Washington; I believe in a matter of a
couple of days -- over the weekend.  They'll report to the
Administration -- to the State Department and the White
House.  We'll then, at that point, assess what needs to be
done next.

       They are not going to be visiting Burma on their
present tour of Asia.  But I cannot discount the possibility
of a visit to Burma by them or other people in the near
future.

       Kristen?

       Q     Why is that?  When you originally discussed this
trip and announced it, it was "envoy to Burma" and not "and
countries around the region."  Why was Burma dropped?

       MR. BURNS:  I think the original White House
announcement was an "envoy on Burma" as opposed to "to
Burma."  The idea here actually was to talk to countries
near Burma that have influence on Burma, to try to share
opinions with them and to try to develop some kind of common
program that might influence the Government of Burma to
respect the rights of its citizens in a way that it is now
not doing.  So that was always the original intent.

       But I don't want to discount the possibility of a
subsequent visit to Burma.  That could happen, but I have
nothing to announce on that.

---- end.