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U.S. Slams Group's Burma Inclusion



                       U.S. Slams Group's Burma Inclusion 

                         By Laura Myers 
                         Associated Press Writer 
                         Wednesday, July 23, 1997; 8:14 p.m. EDT 

                         LOS ANGELES (AP) -- On her way to meet leaders of the
                         Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Secretary
of State
                         Madeleine Albright denounced the group's decision
to accept
                         Burma into its regional economic and security club. 

                         ``Burma may be inside ASEAN, but it will remain
outside the
                         Southeast Asian mainstreheadlines headlines
headlines heads
                         am,'' Albright said Wednesday. ``By admitting Burma
as a
                         member, ASEAN assumes a greater responsibility, for
Burma's
                         problems now become ASEAN's problems.'' ASEAN added
                         Burma and Laos to its group that includes Brunei,
Indonesia,
                         Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
                         Cambodia was set to join this year, but ASEAN
suspended its
                         membership after Hun Sen ousted his co-prime
leader, Prince
                         Ranariddh Norodom, on July 5. 

                         The United States had lobbied to keep Burma out of
ASEAN,
                         citing its huge heroin trade and repressive
military regime that
                         ignored the results of 1990 elections. 

                         Democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San
                         Suu Kyi won the election, but instead of assuming
office, she
                         was put under house arrest by the military regime.
The house
                         arrest has since been lifted. 

                         Albright said her No. 1 goal at a post-ASEAN
conference of
                         foreign ministers in Malaysia this week was
restoring a coalition
                         government in Cambodia. 

                         She said she was pleased to hear fresh reports that
Hun Sen
                         would now accept a mediator role by ASEAN --
something he
                         had rejected just days ago -- but warned that he
still faces the
                         wrath of world leaders who have invested $3 billion in
                         rebuilding Cambodia. 

                         ``The United States will use its leverage and do
all we can in
                         partnership with others to see that Hun Sen's words are
                         translated into concrete actions,'' she said. 

                         ``The international community was right to invest
in peace in
                         Cambodia, and we are right to insist now that the
government
                         in Phnom Penh live up to its obligation to respect
democratic
                         principles,'' Albright said in a speech to the
Pacific Council and
                         Los Angeles World Affairs Council. 

                         So far, the United States has refused to accept
anyone but
                         Ranariddh as Hun Sen's co-premier, although the
coup leader
                         has picked a member of the prince's royal party,
Foreign
                         Minister Ung Huot, to replace his foe. 

                         America has suspended U.S. to Cambodia -- $41.8 million
                         annually -- for at least 30 days -- because of the
coup, holding
                         out the threat funding won't be restored unless Hun Sen
                         recognizes the 1991 Paris Peace accord which ended
civil war
                         in Cambodia. 

                         That agreement led to the 1993 U.N.-sponsored elections
                         which put the royal party in power, although Hun
Sen was
                         given a leadership role in a shaky coalition
government. 

                         In the past few days, ASEAN sent three foreign
ministers to
                         meet separately with Hun Sen and Ranariddh, but Hun Sen
                         rejected their advice. On Wednesday, however, ASEAN
                         reported a Hun Sen spokesman said he was now willing to
                         allow international mediation. 

                         In Kuala Lumpur, Ung Huot met with former New York
                         Congressman Stephen Solarz, President Clinton's
envoy on the
                         crisis. Solarz declined to disclose details, but
said Ung Huot
                         ``may be in a somewhat delicate situation himself.
I think we all
                         know who's calling the shots in Phnom Penh.'' 

                         U.S. officials remain skeptical about Hun Sen,
whose forces
                         have been accused of executing at least 40
followers of the
                         prince after the coup. 

                         Nonetheless, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns
                         said the United States might accept a replacement for
                         Ranariddh if one if democratically chosen by the
Cambodia
                         parliament, set to vote on the issue July 28. 

                         Now that ASEAN has allowed Burma into its club,
Albright
                         said she hoped Southeast Asian leaders would try to
                         encourage democratic reforms there. 

                         The Clinton administration in April imposed a new
ban on U.S.
                         investment in Burma, but no other nations have
followed that
                         lead. 

                         ``As in Cambodia, democratic elections in Burma
were forcibly
                         overturned. Here, too, elected leaders have been
arrested,
                         persecuted and exiled,'' Albright said. ``And here,
too, the lack
                         of a fully legitimate government has created a
climate of
                         lawlessness that threatens stability.''