NEWS- Albright Says U.S. Fears for

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Albright Says U.S. Fears for Myanmar's Suu Kyi

            Reuters
            27-JUL-98

            MANILA, July 27 (Reuters)- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright said on
            Monday Washington was gravely concerned about the health and
safety of
            Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

            The European Union also expressed alarm over Myanmar's
political situation and
            urged the government to enter into a dialogue with the
opposition and hold
            democratic elections. 

            Albright made Myanmar the central topic at an Asian security
conference, telling
            reporters at an afternoon briefing that the United States
deplored the military
            government's refusal to let Suu Kyi travel freely in the
country over the past three
            days. 

            ``We believe freedom of movement is fundamental and its
denial can only increase
            the already dangerous state of tension in Burma (Myanmar)
and we are gravely
            concerned about the health and safety of Aung San Suu Kyi
and will hold the
            Burmese authorities directly responsible for ensuring her
health and welfare,'' she
            said. 

            Albright spoke as Suu Kyi spent a fourth day in her car at a
southwestern village to
            protest against moves to stop her from meeting members of
her political party.
            Authorities stopped the opposition leader at the spot on
Friday. 

            Earlier Albright told a plenary session of the conference
that Myanmar faced a
            growing danger of social explosion. 

            With the foreign minister of Myanmar sitting in the same
conference hall, Albright
            said in an earlier speech: ``With each passing day the
likelihood of a social
            breakdown-- or explosion -- that would undermine regional
stability grows higher; the
            likelihood that a future government will be able to tackle
Burma's problems becomes
            smaller. 

            ``This is a moment of truth and of urgency for Burma and for
all of us concerned
            about its fate.'' 

            Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel, representing
the European Union,
            told Reuters that he had departed from his prepared speech
to the conference to
            give more space to Myanmar. He called the political
situation there ``worse than
            ever.'' 

            Myanmar's military regime suppressed a pro-democracy
movement with heavy loss
            of life in 1988 and has held on to power ever since. 

            Suu Kyi, who has won a Nobel Peace prize for her continuing
efforts to restore
            democracy, is being prevented by the military from
travelling within the country to
            meet opposition colleagues. 

            Albright said the United States supported the call made by
Suu Kyi's National
            League for Democracy (NLD) last month to convene the
parliament the Burmese
            people elected in 1990. 

            The NLD won those elections but the military ignored the
result. 

            Twenty-one countries including the United States, China,
Russia and Japan met in
            Manila for Monday's conference on Asian security topics,
where many issues have
            been jostling for attention. 

            The tit-for-tat nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in May
were one item of deep
            concern at the meeting, ministers said. 

            In a weekend statement, the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN)
            said the group ``deplored the series of nuclear tests
conducted recently in South
            Asia that exacerbated tension in the region and raised the
spectre of a nuclear
            arms race.'' 

            ASEAN did not refer by name to India or Pakistan and
conference sources said
            Western states were pressing for a tougher statement on
nuclear proliferation from
            Monday's ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting, which brings
together ASEAN
            and its dialogue partners. 

            Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told a news
conference there was
            very deep concern at the conference about the whole issue of
nuclear testing. 

            ``Only one country at the ARF is putting up any defence of
India-- and that is India,''
            he said. 

            Pakistan was not invited to the meeting. 

            The United States and the European Union, among others, on
Monday reiterated
            demands that India and Pakistan adhere to the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty. 

            The EU said world stability had been seriously endangered by
the decision of India
            and Pakistan to carry out nuclear tests. 

            Another theme overshadowing the Manila meeting is the change
of government in
            Japan. Japanese officials said prime minister-designate
Keizo Obuchi made a point
            of visiting Manila on Sunday, despite opposition within his
party, because he
            wanted to respond to ASEAN's call for Japan to move on its
economy. 

            To Albright he gave an assurance that he would try to move
fast to put Japan back
            on a growth path. In a statement issued at the weekend, the
nine Southeast Asian
            countries in ASEAN had called on Japan ``to expedite the
implementation of its
            economic measures in support of the economic recovery of
ASEAN countries.'' 

            The delegations, most represented by foreign ministers, met
in a closed session of
            the ARF, a group established in 1993 as an informal
multilateral dialogue on
            security in the Asia Pacific region. 

            Participants in the 21-member forum include all nine members
of ASEAN-- Brunei,
            Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and
            Vietnam-- plus ASEAN observers Cambodia and Papua New
Guinea. The other 10
            members are ASEAN's dialogue partners, Australia, Canada,
China, the European
            Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and
the United States.