AAP_12.2.98:SUU KYI EMPHASIZE DIALO

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12/2/98.ASIA: FOREIGN DIPLOMATS JOIN AUNG SAN SUU KYI AT HOME
11/2/98.ASIA: EXILED GOVT CALLS FOR DIALOGUE, END TO MILITARY RULE
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        ASIA: FOREIGN DIPLOMATS JOIN AUNG SAN SUU KYI AT HOME
BURMA ANNIVERSARY (CARRIED EARLIER)
   RANGOON, Feb 12 DPA - Foreign diplomats were among about 700 
people joining opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today to 
celebrate the 51st anniversary of the founding of the Union of 
Burma today.
           Diplomats from Australia, France, Germany, Italy and Great 
Britain were joined by others from the United States, Japan, 
Thailand, the Philippines and Korea in Union Day celebrations with 
members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) at Suu Kyi's 
lake-side home in Rangoon.
           Most Western countries have curtailed diplomatic, military and 
economic contracts with Burma since military authorities cracked 
down on pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988 and ignored the results 
of an election won by Suu Kyi's party in 1990.
           Although diplomats were allowed to enter her compound today, 
many of Suu Kyi's Burmese supporters were kept outside by Burmese 
military guards.
           Speaking to the gathering, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate 
stressed the need for dialogue between all parties in Burma "to 
address the general crisis of the society".
           "Human rights are not to be doled out by the government but it 
is the duty of government to protect them. The struggle for the 
emergence of such a government is the concern of all in the union 
of citizens."
           The celebration marked the anniversary of the establishment of 
the Union of Burma on February 12, 1947, when representatives from 
the country's ethnic minorities signed an agreement granting 
limited autonomy along with Burma's leader at that time, Suu Kyi's 
father, Aung San.
           In his own Union Day Message, State Peace and Development 
Council Chairman Senior General Than Shwe said the union spirit was 
kept alive with patriotism and national spirit.
           But the Burmese military leader warned: "Internal and external 
destructive elements are harming and threatening the sovereignty 
and territorial integrity of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) and 
attempting to disrupt the national solidarity with the use of their 
lackeys at a time when the union spirit is flourishing."
           He credited the country's military government with "laying 
favourable political, economic and social foundations" and stated 
the new government has been "constituted to further the momentum we 
have gained".
           DPA pjw

        ASIA: EXILED GOVT CALLS FOR DIALOGUE, END TO MILITARY RULE
BURMA ANNIVERSARY
   BANGKOK, Feb 11 AFP - Burma's government in exile called today 
for political dialogue and lamented the lack of basic human rights 
on the eve of the country's 51st anniversary of national union.
           The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) 
said in a statement issued here that an end to military rule in 
Burma was necessary for unity between the country's varied ethnic 
groups.
           "(For) the restoration of unity of all nationalities, it is 
necessary to terminate the military dictatorship," the statement 
said.
           "Therefore it is necessary to hold politically genuine ... 
dialogue to solve the two fundamental political issues ... the 
ethnic question, and the question of democratic rights for all the 
people," it added.
           The NCGUB is made up mostly of MPs who won 1990 elections in 
Burma in a landslide under the umbrella of opposition leader Aung 
San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, but fled when the 
military refused to recognise the results.
           Their call for dialogue comes on the eve of the country's 51st 
Union Day, which marks the signing of an accord between the 
government and the country's ethnic minorities in 1947.
           General Aung San, father of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu 
Kyi and a leader in the country's struggle for independence from 
Britain, signed an agreement with Burma's ethnic minorities to work 
towards independence.
           Burma has effectively been under military rule since 1962 when 
the army led by former strongman Ne Win took control and stamped 
out all opposition.
           The current regime, now known as the State Peace and Development 
Council, came to power in 1988 and instantly crushed the country's 
burgeoning democracy movement.
           AFP shb