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TOTAL sanctioned! IHT PRESS ARTICLE



Subject: TOTAL sanctioned! IHT PRESS ARTICLE/Euro-Burmanet

<hr>
Headline: International Herald Tribune (August 6, 1996) : US Sanctions, Ira=
n, the French and TOTAL...
Keyword: National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, political p=
risoners, human rights, Slorc abuses, foreign investment, France, TOTAL, Eu=
rope
Date: August 6, 1996
Source: Euro-Burmanet, International Herald Tribune (Brian Knowlton)
Section: ebn
Rubrique:main

Dear Free Burma readers and activists : President Clinton is hitting the Fr=
ench and TOTAL directly where it counts. You know today that President Clin=
ton prefers to hit the terrorist issue harder with sanctions on Iran, rathe=
r than go hard on Burma - at this point. Just the same, US foreign policy i=
s reshaping the world, and the French master diplomats and businessmen are =
royally irked, as Brian Knowlton of the IHT reports. We include the full te=
xt to for your information, see section on TOTAL. Metta, thank you, dawn st=
ar =


Ps.  We here would like to thank and take our hats off to everyone who has =
been keeping late watch on deck and doing their bit. The movement seems ver=
y well widespread, coordinated between different groups, under sound leader=
ship, and we are proud to do our modest best to be a part of it. Check our =
Euro-Burmanet. & keep up the pressure on Burma sanctions movement in Washin=
gton. Let them know you know their constituents ande the world is watching.=
 The ball is in our court. So lets play hard ball. (We doing the best we ca=
n over here with the French having virtually abandoned Paris to the tourist=
s, - and pigeons....Paris is in dead August heat. Euro-Burmanet is getting =
back up full time and doing it, stay tuned. http ://www-uvi.eunet.fr/) Send=
 you support to CLINTON, but tell him you want him to go hard to wind with =
 full sails against BURMA and SLORC. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wants nothing les=
s and tens of thousands of already died, and dying today. Tell him you see =
a contradiction when terrorism and oil in IRAN and Libya are damned, but no=
t the dope mafia in Rangoon destroying the world's youth and rotting out ci=
ties and schools in the heart of America and throughout the world. Slorc to=
o are terrorists ! ! against their own population, and with their heinious =
export of drugs and violence. Getting serious about terrorism in Iran and L=
ibya (what an old story) but hasn't BURMA suffered enough of the world's in=
difference ? That,  too, remains  a key test of leadership for Clinton and =
a non-partisan Congress. Sanctions really put the French politicians  in th=
e hole, with all the bombings in Paris and the French governments ranting o=
ver the past year about human rights  claiming to set an example for the wo=
rld !  An example it is ! Now their game is called ! Enough of the diplomat=
ic double-speak. This is going to make waves for some time now, so lets not=
 let Burma get side-lined over it. BURMA SANCTIONS NOW ! Anything less is s=
heer hypocrisy and cowardice.

If protecting citizens is a state priority, =E0 la the Clinton model, again=
st the French priority of State over the individual (l'=E9tat l'oblige), th=
en, we ask, what about the Burmese people  and the worlds civilians menaced=
 by Slorc? ) =


No longer can the French government and French companies go on scott-free d=
oing business as usual with terrorist and outlaw governments, lest they bec=
ome like them, too. Clinton has drawn a line, and that line leads also to B=
urma when it comes to outlaw governments. Urge Clinton now to not to retrea=
t ny further back. Its boycott time, now more than ever.


Thank you, Euro-Burmanet

Begin text

WASHINGTON - Taking aim at what he called "two of the most dangerous suppor=
ters of terrorism in the world, " President Bill Clinton on Monday signed a=
 bill establishing sanctions against any foreign entity that invests in pet=
roleum projects in Iran or Libya.

France, which has joined other European governments in decrying the bill, i=
mmediately protested. =


At a White House signing ceremony attended by relatives of victims of the 1=
988 bombing of a Pan Am  bombing, U.S. and British officials contend, was d=
one by Libyan agents. =


But in Paris, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said the measure would " create =
a particularly dangerous precedent for the security and development of comm=
erce. "

The spokesman, Yves Doutriaux, added that France and its European Union par=
tners would move to protect any companies that might be hurt by the law. (W=
OULD THEY DO THE SAME THING OVER BURMA SANCTIONS ed. Euro-BurmaNet)

Asked about the French stance, Mr. Clinton said, " Well, of course, that's =
their decision to make. But every advanced country is going to have to make=
 up its mind whether it can do business with people by day who turn around =
and fuel attacks on their innocent civilians by night. "

He said the United States would proceed alone if it had to.

The State Department spokesman, Nicholas Burns, put the U.S. case in more s=
tinging terms, saying there was a " very clear difference of view " with Eu=
ropean governments, which, he chargted, " prefer to sit back and hope that =
Iran will be nice ".

Mr. Burns told a news briefing it would be " unwise " of the Europeans to r=
etaliate against the United States, " because they would be acting contrary=
 to their own self-interest ".

The U.S. government has offered no evidence linking Iran and Libya to the c=
rash of TWA Flight 800, which took the lives of all 230 on board, or to the=
 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, which led to two deaths. U.S. intelligenc=
e officials have said they suspect Iranian involvement in the June bombing =
that killed 19 U.S. servicemen in their quarters in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Clinton, particularly in this presidential election year, has been unde=
r intense pressure to act against terrorism. =


The measure signed Monday requires the president to impose two or more of s=
ix possible sanctions agtainst foreigtn individuals or companies that inves=
t $40 million or more a year in gas or oil projects in Iran and Libya.

The possible sanctions are : denying Export-Import Bank loans, denying expo=
rt licenses, barring U.S. banks from making loans of more than $10 million =
a year to those dealing with Iran and Libya, barring such financial institu=
tions from being primary dealers of U.S. government bonds, banning U.S. gov=
ernment procurement of goods and services from such entities and imposing i=
mport sanctions. =


The French petroleum company TOTAL SA, angered American officials last year=
 when it took over the development of two big offshore oil and gas fields i=
n Iran after U.S. law had barred American companies from the project. The n=
ew law does not cover existing contracts, however.

TOTAL and other foreign oil companies have also sought to purchase the asse=
ts of U.S. producers in Libya.

The Clinton administation had already drawn the wrath of some of its closes=
t allies when the president signed in to law a bill to penalize foreign bus=
inesses that invest in property confiscated by Cuba from American citizens.=


The president, ina speech Monday at George Washington Univeristy in Washing=
ton, described the increasing outreach of American efforts against terroris=
m. " Over the past four years, " he said, " our intelligence services have =
been sharing more information than ever with other nations ". =


Mr. Clinton summmoned congressional leaders to the White House on July 29, =
two days after the Atlanta bombing, and urged them to approve a package of =
counterterrorism measures before adjourning Friday.

The House overwhelmingly approved new airport security meansures, but, faci=
ng criticism from a wide-ranging coalition, refused to grant the broader wi=
retapping authority that the adminstration sought for law-enforcement offic=
ials.

The Senate postponed action to next month.

On Monday, Mr. Clinton cautioned that such efforts would exact costs, and a=
ded that " while we can defeat terrorists, it will be a long time before we=
 defeat terrorism. "

" America will remain a target ", he said, " because we are uniquely presen=
t in the world, because we act to advance peace and democracy, because we h=
ave taken a tougher stand against terrorism, and because we are the most op=
en society on earth. "


Send email now to the White House. "Yes, Mr. President, but have you forgot=
ten Burma ? The menace is real. BURMA SANCTIONS NOW." =