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30-31JUL98:AAP NEWS
AAP NEWS 30-31 JUL 1998
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30/7/98(AFP) BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO BURMA RECALLED
30/7/98(AAP) US, AUSTRALIA APPEAL FOR UN INTERVENTION IN BURMA
31/7/98(AFP) UN ENVOY EXPECTED IN BURMA BY MID-SEPTEMBER
31/7/98(REUTERS) NEW ZEALAND AND US JOIN TO PRESS UN OVER BURMA
1/8/98(AFP) SECURITY INCREASED AS RANGOON BRACES FOR NEW TENSIONS
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ASIA: BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO BURMA RECALLED
BURMA SUUKYI UK
LONDON, July 30 AFP - British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook today
announced he had called the British ambassador to Burma back to
London for talks over the Burma junta's decision to forcibly end a
six-day protest by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I want to make clear that the Burmese regime's interference in
Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom of movement and association is
unacceptable," Cook said in a statement.
"This fundamental infringement of her basic human rights can
only do harm to Burma."
He continued: "It is high time the regime recognised the need to
open an immediate dialogue with the NLD (National League for
Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi)."
Yesterday, the Myanmar junta forced Aung San Suu Kyi to end her
roadside protest, which she began on a country bridge outside the
capital Rangoon when the authorities would not let her travel on to
meet supporters.
The move prompted widespread international condemnation, led by
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who called it an
"unacceptable violation of her human rights".
A spokesman at the US embassy earlier accused the junta of lying
and of starving the NLD leader so she was forced to give up her
demonstration.
In Rangoon the junta confirmed it had forced Aung San Suu Kyi to
return to the capital because she had ignored "gentle persuasion".
The junta defended its actions, saying it had no choice but to
end the stand-off and adding that Aung San Suu Kyi had achieved her
objective by prompting international criticism of the government.
AFP gl
FED: US, AUSTRALIA APPEAL FOR UN INTERVENTION IN BURMA
AUSMIN BURMA (SYDNEY)
Australia and the US have made a joint appeal to United Nations
Secretary General KOFI ANNAN to intervene to try to resolve the
Burmese political crisis.
The appeal follows yesterday's decision by the Burmese military
government to forcibly end a six day standoff involving opposition
leader AUNG SAN SUU KYI.
SUU KYI had refused to move from a bridge outside the capital
Rangoon after she was prevented from driving to meet supporters in
provincial areas.
US Secretary of State MADELEINE ALBRIGHT says it's becoming
clear the Burmese government has NOT been telling the truth about
the stand off.
And she says she and Mr DOWNER have taken time out from today's
Australia-US Ministerial talks in Sydney and phone Mr ANNAN about
the crisis.
Dr ALBRIGHT says Mr ANNAN's promised to consider their request.
AAP RTV ss/rft/jv
ASIA: UN ENVOY EXPECTED IN BURMA BY MID-SEPTEMBER AT EARLIEST
BURMA UN
UNITED NATIONS, July 31 AFP - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
was planning to send a special envoy to Burma in mid-September at
the earliest, a UN spokesman said today.
Riot police were deployed today around the home of opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the headquarters of her National League
for Democracy amidst escalating political tension in Rangoon,
witnesses said.
UN spokesman Juan Carlos Brandt, asked at a news conference
about a personal intervention by Annan following requests from the
United States and Australia, noted that the UN chief was already
planning to send Peruvian diplomat Alvaro de Soto to Rangoon.
De Soto, UN assistant secretary general for political affairs,
has held several rounds of fruitless talks with Burma's junta and
the opposition in the past.
Asked about Annan's personal involvement, Brandt responded that
"short of him going personally there, this would qualify as he
himself being involved in this particular matter".
Brandt said that no firm date had yet been fixed for De Soto's
visit, but "that could be as early as the middle of the month of
September".
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today that
Washington believed "the UN needs to play a more vigorous role".
Annan, apparently fearful of upsetting the junta before De Soto
arrives there, has taken a cautious line in responding to the
military's treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Nobel laureate was blocked from travelling to meet
supporters in a provincial centre last Friday and remained in her
car on a rural highway until being forced back to Rangoon late on
Wednesday.
During the standoff, Annan announced on Wednesday that he hoped
to send De Soto "in the not-too-distant future" to Rangoon, and
said that he shared the concerns of UN human rights commissioner
Mary Robinson about Aung San Suu Kyi.
AFP ao
PAC: NEW ZEALAND AND US JOIN TO PRESS UN OVER BURMA
BURMA SUUKYI NZ
AUCKLAND, Aug 1 Reuters - US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright said today that New Zealand's foreign minister had agreed
to join her in pressing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
for "urgent" intervention on Burma.
Albright said the minister, Donald McKinnon, "and I are going to
be in touch with the secretary general later in order to discuss
the urgency of the situation" in Burma after military rulers
forcibly ended a protest by democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Her comments, at a news conference, seemed intended to keep the
pressure on Annan for action amid hints he may not be moving fast
enough for the US secretary of state.
Albright said in Sydney yesterday that she and Australian
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had asked Annan "to become
personally involved" in persuading the country's military
government to open a dialogue with Suu Kyi.
She said Annan agreed to "take a very careful look" at the
proposal.
At the news conference on Saturday, Albright said that in the
Friday conversation she and Downer "made clear that we felt that
the situation (in Burma) was one that was increasingly dangerous
and that needs his personal attention".
"I'm very glad that Foreign Minister McKinnon feels the same
way," she said.
Annan spoke by telephone yesterday to Michael Aris, the husband
of Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and head of Burma's
opposition National League for Democracy.
Earlier this week, Annan announced he would send Alvaro De Soto,
assistant secretary-general for political affairs, to Burma if the
government would set a date. UN officials said there had been no
response from Rangoon.
De Soto has made several trips to Burma but has made little
progress with the government, which has been shunned by the West
for almost a decade.
UN officials do not expect Annan to visit the country. The
military has so far failed to respond to appeals to move toward
democracy by the UN General Assembly or in negotiations with senior
UN officials.
Earlier this week, in a move that drew sharp international
criticism, Myanmar's military authorities forced Suu Kyi to end a
six-day sit-in protest in a car outside the capital Rangoon
after she and three associates were prevented from travelling to a
meeting with her supporters.
REUTERS sk
ASIA: SECURITY INCREASED AS RANGOON BRACES FOR NEW TENSIONS
BURMA SUUKYI DAYLEAD
By Kieron Flynn
BANGKOK, Aug 1 AFP - Burma's capital Rangoon braced for an
escalation of political tension today with increased security
around the city ahead of an opposition-set deadline for parliament
to be convened.
Hundreds of riot police were deployed across Rangoon, including
at the home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the
headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, and
at key bridges and other strategic locations, residents said.
More than 100 of her supporters and several opposition
politicians were allowed to visit the NLD chief today, opposition
and junta officials said.
Yesterday, police prevented some senior foreign diplomats from
visiting the Nobel peace laureate.
Diplomatic and other sources in Rangoon said all attention was
now focused on August 21, by when the NLD has said the junta must
convene parliament or face unspecified consequences.
The NLD-led opposition won 1990 polls by a landslide but the
junta has refused to relinquish power.
The 10th anniversary on August 8 of a military crackdown on
pro-democracy demonstrators, which left thousands dead according to
unofficial tallies, was expected to pass peacefully, diplomats
said.
A Bangkok-based opposition activist said NLD officials were
holding talks to determine what action they should take if, as is
widely expected, the junta refuses to convene parliament.
"They will do something, definitely, but I don't know what. Most
probably a demonstration," said Aung Naing Oo, foreign affairs
secretary of the All Burma Students Democratic Front.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is planning to send a
special envoy to Burma, spoke yesterday with Aung San Suu Kyi's
husband, Michael Aris.
Aris was in a UN office in New York while Annan was in Wyoming.
No further details were immediately available.
Annan plans to send assistant secretary general for political
affairs Alvaro de Soto to Burma in September or October.
Junta officials said they were on heightened alert because
students planned a protest to mark the August 8 anniversary of the
1988 crackdown.
Western powers meanwhile slammed the military leadership for
their "callous" treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi.
International concern at deteriorating conditions in Burma has
grown since the NLD chief was barred from travelling to meet
supporters in a provincial town on July 24.
She remained in her car on a rural highway 26km from Rangoon
until being forced back to her residence late on Wednesday. It was
the third time in three weeks she had attempted to leave Rangoon
for talks with supporters.
The United States condemned "in the strongest possible terms"
the forcible end to her six-day protest.
Britain and the European Union also condemned the action while
France today voiced concern over the military junta's treatment of
Aung San Suu Kyi.
"France calls upon the authorities of Myanmar (Burma) to put an
end to the restrictive measures which have been imposed on the
political leaders, particularly Daw (eds: honorific) Aung San Suu
Kyi, in the peaceful exercise of their right to the freedom of
movement, expression, meeting and association," the French embassy
in Rangoon said in a statement.
In the US, The Washington Post called in an editorial for
sanctions against the military junta, saying "engagement has
produced nothing, whereas multilateral sanctions -- as advocated by
Aung San Suu Kyi herself -- could have a real effect".
"For it is contracts with America's Unocal Corp, France's Total,
Singapore's and China's arms merchants and other companies from
Europe, Asia and North America that allow the unpopular generals to
hold on," the paper said.
The NLD chief has pledged to again defy the junta and seek to
visit supporters outside the capital.
"I shall continue to go out of Yangon (Rangoon) again and again
as soon as I recover until these conditions are met," Aung San Suu
Kyi was quoted as saying by a spokesman, who added that she was
dehydrated and had a fever after the stand-off.
The junta said it had no choice but to end the confrontation,
adding that Aung San Suu Kyi had achieved her objective by
prompting "international criticism" of the government at a meeting
of South-East Asian foreign ministers and their international
allies in Manila earlier in the week.
"The action was taken in the interests of both parties," an
intelligence official said. "She stubbornly refused gentle
persuasion."
The junta accused Aung San Suu Kyi of taking an "uncompromising
stance" and "acting like a dictator".
AFP ao
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