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Japan Urges Myanmar-Suu Kyi Talks
- Subject: Japan Urges Myanmar-Suu Kyi Talks
- From: brelief@xxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 03:29:00
May 01, 1998 at 13:46:38 PDT
Japan Urges Myanmar-Suu Kyi Talks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Japan has demanded that
Myanmar's military rulers open a dialogue with
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and insists that
Tokyo's aid freeze against the junta will remain in place.
Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has been
highly critical of Japan's decision to extend a loan to the
government to upgrade safety at Yangon's international
airport, saying the money will simply encourage more human
rights violations.
Ken Shimanouchi, deputy press secretary in Japan's Foreign
Ministry, said Thursday in Bangkok that the airport aid did not
signal a change in the loan freeze put in place by Tokyo in
1988 after the bloody suppression of anti-government
protests.
Cracks in the runway and the poor state of the control tower
meant Yangon's airport did not meet international safety
standards, Shimanouchi said. He said safety concerns
persuaded Japan to release part of the airport improvement
loan that was frozen 10 years ago.
But the Myanmar government was informed when the $19.5
million loan was freed in March that Japan remains unhappy
with the military regime's continuing human-rights abuses,
Shimanouchi said.
"We said that the Myanmar government should open a
meaningful dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi," the spokesman
said. "We clearly said her name."
The military has refused Suu Kyi's constant appeals for a
dialogue to end the country's political deadlock, though it
tried
to skirt her last year and initiated contacts with other members
of her National League for Democracy.
The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since
1962. Suu Kyi, daughter of independence hero Aung San,
vaulted to prominence during the 1988 protests and has spent
most of the time since under house arrest or close
confinement.
Her supporters overwhelmingly won elections in 1990, but the
military never allowed the parliament to convene.
This week, human rights groups deplored death sentences
handed out to six opponents of Myanmar's military
government.
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