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Burmese dissident urges Western san
- Subject: Burmese dissident urges Western san
- From: Winston_Lee@xxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996 12:00:00
Subject: Burmese dissident urges Western sanctions to oust Military
Brussels, July 18 (Reuters) -- In a videotape smuggled out of Myanmar and made
public today, the campaigner for democracy and winner of the Nobel prize, Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, issued a call for international sanctions to be imposed on
her country to force political change on the military rulers.
"What we want are the kind of sanctions that will make it quite clear that
economic change in Burma is not possible without political change," Ms. Aung
San Suu Kyi said in the videotape, which was shown by members of the European
Parliament.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi dismissed fears that sanctions would hurt ordinary
Burmese. "I think that the only people whom sanctions will affect are the
privileged ones," she said. Her appeal coincides without mounting pressure in
the West for action against the rulers of Myanmar, who cracked down on the
democracy movement in May.
In Strasbourg, France, members of the European Parliament passed a non-binding
resolution today urging the European Union to end all trade, tourism and
investment ties with Myanmar.
So far the European Union has resisted sanctions, with many countries arguing
that without similar moves from China and other Asian nations, sanctions would
be meaningless.
But Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi differentiated between Asian investment and potential
investment by the European Union and the United States. Asians, she said,
invested mainly in hotels, department stores and tourist-related businesses.
"These, of course, are only related to the very privileged groups," she said,
while Western investment would be in the basic projects that Myanmar needs if
it is to grow economically.
She said sanctions would help the democracy movement by discouraging
investors. "Good business anywhere is very much dependent on confidence," she
said. "We think this is the time or concerted international efforts with
regard to the democratic process in Burma." The videotape, which European
Parliament officials said was filmed within the last two weeks, also showed Ms.
Aung San Suu Kyi addressing supporters.
Pressure has been growing on governments and companies to shun Myanmar. The
Carlsberg and Heineken breweries both announced earlier this month they were
ending business dealings there after pro-democracy groups called for a boycott
of the companies' products.
Within the European Union, Denmark has been the driving force for sanctions,
after the June 22 death in prison of James Leander Nichols, its honorary consul
in Yangon, the capital. Mr. Nichols, who also represented Finland, Norway and
Switzerland, was Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's godfather. She did not mention the
incident in the video.
The United States has also expressed concern. Secretary of State Warren
Christopher plans to consult his counterparts from the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations on the issue when he meets them this weekend in Jakarta,
Indonesia.
But the secretary general of Asean, Ajit Singh, said today that Myanmar would
not be an issue.
"The West and the media are going on a witch hunt," he said, because Myanmar
"is not an issue at all as far as Asean is concerned."
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi also announced through a spokesman today that she would
attend a government-run ceremony on Friday to mark the anniversary of her
father's assassination.
The ceremony marks the date, July 19, 1947, when her father, Gen. Aung San, and
eight other leaders of the pro-independence movement were killed as they
prepared for the end of British rule.
If Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi had shunned the ceremony, it might have been seen as an
affront to the military at a time when relations between the opposition and the
Government are already strained. //END//