BBC-Burmese junta talks to oppositi (r)

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Tuesday, August 18, 1998 Published at 15:53 GMT 16:53 UK 

Burmese junta talks to opposition 

Senior leaders of the Burmese government have held talks with the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) for the first time in more
than a year. 

The move is surprising because hours earlier, senior members of Burma's
military junta were being quoted as saying that the NLD and its leadership
deserved to be annihilated. 

A government statement described the encounter as open and cordial and said
it could be the first in a series of confidence building meetings. 

It said a delegation led by the military intelligence chief, Khin Nyunt,
met for 45 minutes at a government guesthouse with the chairman of the NLD,
Aung Shwe - for what it termed open, frank and cordial talks. 

The BBC's South-East Asia Correspondent, Simon Ingram, says the meeting
could mark an important first step in breaking a dangerous political
deadlock in Burma. 

He says a political breakthrough is seen as a prerequisite for averting the
collapse of Burma's stricken economy. 

Suu Kyi exclusion 

The opposition has turned down previous offers of talks because the
military junta said that it is ready for dialogue only, if the party's
leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is not a participant. 


Our correspondent says the NLD is understood to have come under some
pressure from Western governments to show more flexibility in this regard. 

Miss Suu Kyi's line has been that while she does not insist on
participating in any discussions with the government, the NLD must have the
right to choose who its delegation should consist of. 

Miss Suu Kyi is spending a seventh day in a minibus on a small road bridge
outside Rangoon after being blocked by the security forces on her latest
attempt to leave the capital. 

Her intention is both to highlight the restrictions imposed on her
political activities and to step up pressure on the authorities. 

She has demanded that the government convene by this Friday a meeting of
the parliament elected in 1990, in which the NLD won an overwhelming
majority - a deadline that has been ignored by the regime.