UN Chief Urges Democracy Moves by M

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UN chief urges democracy moves by Myanmar
Fri 04 Sep 98 - 22:46 GMT
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 4 (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged
Myanmar authorities to take steps towards democracy and to hold a dialogue
with the main
opposition leader, his spokesman said here.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that at a meeting with the junta's foreign
minister on the
sidelines of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Durban, South Africa,
Annan
"pressed him on the need for the democratic liberalisation of Myanmar."
He also called for "a sustained and effective dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi,"
Eckhard said.
Eckhard did not mention Annan's attempts to send a high-level envoy to Myanmar
which has
been rebuffed by the authorities.
Annan's meeting with the foreign minister came as crowds of Myanmar students
staged an
anti-government rally on a university campus in the capital Yangon.
Political tensions are rising in Myanmar and the leading opposition National
League for
Democracy (NLD) of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has vowed to convene
the
parliament elected in 1990 but which has never been allowed to sit.