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Reuter: SLORC Reactions to Burma Sa (r)



Subject: Reuter: SLORC Reactions to Burma Sanctions Imposed by the US

SLORC Reactions to Burma Sanctions Imposed by the US
 
    RANGOON, July 27 (Reuter) - Burma's army commander, in a reference to
looming threats of sanctions, said the country has long been self-reliant
and national strength came from within.
     General Maung Aye, in a speech published in official newspapers on
Saturday, said the Burmese people opposed "destructionists" who were trying
to engineer the imposition of sanctions against the country.
     "The strength of the nation lies within," Maung Aye told army recruits
in the speech on Friday. "The nation has been self-reliant without
depending on external assistance with strings attatched."
     The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to allow President Bill Clinton to
impose economic sanctions on Burma if Rangoon's military rulers increased
pressure on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democracy leaders.
     Under the proposal approved by the Senate investment would be barred
if repression increased or if Suu Kyi was harmed, arrested or exiled.
     There have also been calls for sanctions on Burma in Europe with
Denmark the driving force following the death in prison on June 22 of James
Leander Nichols, its honorary consul.
     Maung Aye, who is also a leading member of the ruling military body,
the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), said "destructionist
forces" were trying to create the conditions for economic sanctions to
further their aim of "grabbing power."
     "Destructionists" is a term the military government uses to refer to
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy
(NLD) colleagues.
     "Under the pretext of democracy and human rights they are creating
conditions to cause economic sanctions to be imposed on the country and to
hinder the visits of tourists and inflows of investment," the general said.
     Suu Kyi has called for sanctions to pressure the government to open
talks with the opposition on political reform.
     She has frequently appealed to foreign businessmen to postpone
investing in the country, and for tourists not to visit, until democracy is
restored.
     Burma's Asian neighbours, among them some of its largest foreign
investors and leading trading partners, reject the calls for sanctions
saying they would be counterproductive and would be a set-back for the
chances of reform.
     Meanwhile, a commentary in a Burmese-language newspaper on Saturday
called for legal action to be taken against Suu Kyi and her colleagues for
their "false accusations damaging the dignity of the country."
     Suu Kyi's regular weekend talks to crowds outside her home were
illegal and action should be taken against her under emergency laws, the
commentary said.
     "It is time you stopped," it said.
     Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was released from six
years house arrest a year ago.
     Tension between her and the government intensified in May after the
SLORC detained more than 250 NLD members in an attempt to block a party
meeting.
  REUTER


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