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U.S. Slams Burma for Role in Drug T (r)



Subject: U.S. slams Burma for role in drug trade.


	U.S. Slams Burma for Role in Drug Trade
	***************************************
		(By Ian MacKenzie) 

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuter) - The United States on Monday accused 
Burma of officially encouraging the drug trade as narcotics trafficking 
came under the spotlight at an ASEAN conference of leading Asian and 
Western nations. 

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who acknowledged Burma's 
recent joining of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) 
despite Western disapproval, said drug traffickers were "now leading 
lights in Burma's new market economy and leading figures in its new
political order." 

"Drug money has become so pervasive in Burma that it taints legitimate 
investment and threatens the region as a whole," she told the conference. 

"Indeed, it is hard to imagine a lasting solution to this region's 
narcotics problem without a lasting solution to Burma's political crisis." 

She said the United States had successfully worked with Thailand and Laos 
on opium eradication programs and planned to sponsor more such projects 
in Laos and elsewhere. 

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov told the 19-nation meeting that 
drug trafficking and related economic crimes were more than topical. 

"We need to cooperate vigorously in joint actions against these evils 
which in varying degrees and forms are present in all our countries," he 
said. 

Primakov called for an international meeting to identify the scope of the 
problem, to elaborate on basic principles of cooperation and to establish 
a data bank open to "all interested agencies in our countries." 

ASEAN members Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei have mandatory death 
penalties for drug trafficking. The group also comprises Indonesia, 
Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and newly joined Burma and Laos. 

Also attending the conference, which winds up on Tuesday after a week of 
ASEAN and related meetings, are so-called dialogue partners the United 
States, Russia, China, Japan, European Union, South Korea, India, Canada, 
Australia and New Zealand. 

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam described drug abuse as a 
"burning global issue." 

He said control of trafficking, preventive education, treatment and 
rehabilitation were part of ASEAN's plan of action. 

"We call on the international community to join efforts to reduce demand 
for drugs, and we look forward to increased support from dialogue 
partners to assist ASEAN in these cooperative projects," Cam said. 

(Reuter, 28 July 1997)

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