Myanmar junta and opposition mull t

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Myanmar junta and opposition mull talks, but stand-off goes on

       Wed 19 Aug 98 - 06:42 GMT 

       YANGON, Aug 19 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta and its opponents were Wednesday
mulling the first round of direct
       talks between them this year, as Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
began the second week of a stand-off with
       the military rulers.

       National League for Democracy (NLD) chairman Aung Shwe met Tuesday for
nearly an hour with junta intelligence
       chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, widely seen as number two in the
military heirarchy.

       "Neither side is saying what the content of the meeting was," a western
diplomat said.

       "I think they have gone back to confer on both sides and we won't see
any swift developments."

       The junta described the talks as "open, cordial and frank."

       "We hope this is the first in a series of confidence-building talks
between the government and the NLD," Khun Nyunt
       was quoted as saying in a junta statement.

       "We have had a fruitful meeting and we also have appreciated the NLD's
acceptance of our offer of a meeting."

       The NLD had declined previous invitations for talks, mostly recently on
August 7, as they excluded party secretary
       general Aung San Suu Kyi and other key members.

       The invitation had been addressed to Aung Shwe but specifically
excluded Aung San Suu Kyi and co-vice chairman
       Tin Oo. It also excluded former NLD executive committee member Kyi
Maung. 

       All three were formally expelled from the party after they were jailed
or, in Aung San Suu Kyi's case, when she was
       placed under house arrest from 1989 to 1995.

       Tin Oo was jailed at the same time and Kyi Maung a year later following
polls which the NLD won by a landslide.
       The junta has since refused to relinquish power.

       They were officially reinstated to the party by junta electoral
officials in 1995 but Kye Maung has since quit the
       NLD.

       The NLD, which has constantly called for direct talks with the junta,
has demanded the military convene parliament
       by August 21 or face unspecified consequences.

       Diplomats said Tuesday's meeting between the NLD and the junta did not
mean Aung San Suu Kyi had been
       sidelined, with some adding the talks could have been arranged earlier
to take place while she remains in a
       stand-off with authorities outside Yangon.

       "I think it is quite a clever solution to be honest," another westeern
diplomat said, adding formal invitation for the
       talks did not refer to Aung San Suu Kyi at all.

       "She isn't in Yangon, so she obviously can't attend the talks. I'd be
surprised if they hadn't talked about this scenario
       before she left."

       Aung San Suu Kyi Wednesday began the second week of a roadside standoff
with the junta but diplomats expected
       her to return to the capital within the next two days.

       "She's still there but I think she will leave by August 21," said one
western diplomat, referring to a deadline set by
       the NLD for the junta to convene parliament.

       The Nobel laureate, a party official and two drivers have remained on a
small bridge 25 kilometres (15 miles) from
       Yangon since she was blocked from travelling to meet provincial
supporters last Wednesday.

       It was her fourth such failed bid to visit provincial supporters in
little over a month. 

       The NLD Wednesday urged the public to support its call for the
convening of parliament, saying democracy was in
       the interests of the country's 45 million people.

       "A democratic parliament is aware of all citizens," the NLD said in an
open letter to the public, distributed hours
       after the Tuesday talks with the junta.

       "The NLD and other elected members of parliament have a duty to fulfill
the people's desire.

       "The officially elected MPs need public support to carry out their
duties."

       The junta's media, meanwhile, stepped up its offensive against Aung San
Suu Kyi, saying she could not understand
       the country because she had "mixed with alien blood."

       The New Light of Myanmar daily queried how the daughter of independence
hero Aung San, revered by both the
       junta and the opposition, could have taken the line she has. It
suggested she had been tainted by her marriage to a
       foreigner, Briton Michael Aris.

       "Although she is a daughter of Bogyoke (General) Aung San, she has a
wrong spiritual atitude as she has been mixed
       with alien blood," it added.

       Aung San Suu Kyi's marriage to Aris is a frequent point of criticism by
the junta, which uses it to suggest she is not
       committed to Myanmar.

       Although she spent many years in Europe, she has remained in Myanmar
since returning here in 1988 before a
       military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators which left thousands
dead, according to unofficial tolls.

                                                                              
          ©AFP 1998

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