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Information Sheet No.A-0594(I) (r)
Re: Special Feature
===================
Comments:
---------
Indeed, LTC Hla Min is a very confused soul. Even though there was no
substance at all in whatever he had to say throughout this piece of
interview, he could not even remain consistant with what he said earlier
on the same subject under discussion. He seemed to be pretty much
preoccupied with the notion that he had to completely lie to save his
own position. So, we urge you to stop this nonsense. It won't work.
>[Q] Why does the government refuse to meet with and negotiate with
> an NLD delegation which includes Aung San Suu Kyi?
>
>[A] The government is always willing to have talks and discussions >
with not only the NLD party, but the other existing nine
> political parties as well. .....The government find it extremely
> difficult to officially recognize party officials, those who
> were officially expelled from respective parties by their own
> party leaders.
>
>[Q] But surely that's a matter for the party to decide, who is
> reinstated and who isn't?
>
>[A] But you see, they have reinstated, yes. We did not say that they >
cannot reinstate. But that is not officially, that is for the
> internal political activities [On] that we have nothing to say.
> ........
NLD is a legally accepted political party and people have voted for the
NLD in the May 1990 general elections. If anything is not official, it
is the SPDC/SLORC that came to power illegally, by shear force, and
without the support of the people of Burma.
If SPDC is sincere about a peaceful dialogue with the NLD including the
ethnic minorities and other political parties, then they should stop
naming who they would like to meet and who they don't from any party. It
is entirely the responsibilty of the NLD or any other parties for that
matter to name their own delegation and the SPDC should limit the
concern to their own problems. SPDC has too much problems to be solved
in too little time. Here are some of them:
1. You have to quickly consider appeals for a reconciliation talk
with the NLD from the Burmese veteran politicians and also from
some of the ethinc rebels groups that have the cease-fire
agreement with the SPDC/SLORC.
2. To consider UN Secretary General's offer to mediate to solve the
political impasse in Burma.
3. To consider the NLD's declaration that it will convene the
parliament on their own in September if SPDC fails to terms with
the NLD and show a genuine interest for a reconcilatory talk and
free the arrested students and the NLD members as a good gesture.
4. Students have given their ultimatum on the 7 September to meet
their demands.
Hope the SPDC can solve them peacefully.
In soliderity with the NLD's and the students' movements.
Minn Kyaw Minn
===============
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>Date: 06 Sep 1998 02:48:33
>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>From: OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx
>Subject: Information Sheet No.A-0594(I)
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> MYANMAR IMFORMATION COMMITTEE
> YANGON
>
> Information Sheet
>
>
> No.A-0594(I) 6th September 1998
>
>(1) Myanmar has Seen Emergence of Prominent Women in History Worthy of
Honour
>Women in Myanmar today Enjoy Equal Rights, Adhere to High Moral
Values and
>Good Conduct
>
> A ceremony to give away prizes to winners of 1998 Myanmar Women's Day
>Commemorative Essay Competitions organized by the National Working
Committee
>for Women's Affairs was held in the National Theatre on Myomakyaung
Street on
>5 September afternoon, and Secretary-1 of the State Peace and
Development
>Council addressed the ceremony and presented prizes to winners. In his
>address, Secretary-1 said Myanmar Women's Day could be designated in
honour
>of the entire Myanmar women imbued with virtues such as preserving
their own
>traditional culture, mores and lineage, and it amounts to putting up a
>historic milestone worthy of dignity of the entire Myanmar women. As
for
>Myanmar women, they have been enjoying status equal to men beginning
the dawn
>of Myanmar civilisation, and moreover, they could preserve their own
cultural
>characteristics according to Myanma tradition without letting Myanmar
culture
>be eclipsed by other culture which does not proffer women status equal
to men
>though there have been relations with other nations. The good
reputation of
>Myanmar women is well-known, and it is evident that they are enjoying
status
>equal to men as a birthright. Disparaging and preposterous accusations
such
>as that there is inequality of rights for women in Myanmar, that the
health
>and education standard of Myanmar women is low and their moral is
corrupted,
>and that because of Myanmar women, AIDS is prevalent in Myanmar. These
>accusations brought the dignity of Myanmar women on the verge of being
>tainted. In fact, Myanmar women while preserving their cherishable
traditional
>culture through out their life and enjoying status equal to men, always
uphold
>the fine tradition of observing moral codes of conduct which are
respectably
>observed in Myanmar society. In the tenure of the State Peace and
Development
>Council, Myanmar women can enjoy their rights fully, and the Government
is
>creating opportunities which can contribute to the development of
women. As a
>result, many outstanding women have emerged and it can be seen that
with the
>collective strength of the entire Myanmar women, women's social and
economic
>organizations have emerged and Myanmar women, taking the lead, are
>contributing to the effort for the development of the nation.
>
> As a token of participating in international women's activities under
the
>aegis of the United States, Myanmar women delegation attended the
fourth World
>Conference on Women held in Beijing, The People's Republic of China.
Myanmar
>ratified the Beijing Declaration and Plan of Action adopted at the
fourth
>World Conference on Women. In accord with the future tasks of the
Beijing
>Declaration , the government formed the National Working Committee for
Women's
>Affairs on 3 July 1996 to be able to oustandingly strive for the
development
>of Myanmar women and to systematically mobilize Myanmar women
associations.
>Out of 12 future tasks of the Beijing Declaration, the National Working
>committee for Women's Affairs is implementing six tasks concerning
education,
>health, economy, culture, protection of women from violence and
rehabilitation
>and development of life of young women. The National Working Committee
for
>Women's Affairs, the First National level women's organization working
for
>allround development of women and preservation and safeguarding of
culture and
>traditions and national character is regarded as the one representing
entire
>mass of women and 3 July, the founding day of the Committee, was
designated
>Myanmar Women's Day.
>
>(2) 25th Convocation of IM-2
>
> The 25th convocation of Institute of Medicine -2 was held in the
Convocation
>Hall of Yangon University on 5 September morning. Rector Dr Tha Hla
Shwe spoke
>and conferred degrees on nine postgraduates and 19 graduates.
>
> Special Feature
>
> This Office is Presenting an Interview Conducted by Peter Mares of
Radio
>Australia (Asia-Pacific) with Lt-Col Hla Min of Office of Strategic
Studies
>
>Ruling authorities spokesman on Suu Kyi, rejects international call for
UN
>role
>
>Text of report by Radio Australia on 27th August
>
>[Presenter Peter Mares] Burma's military regime rejects claims of
human
>rights abuse and remains defiant in the face of growing international
>pressure-US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright telephoned the
foreign
>ministers of Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand last
weekend to
>discuss developments in Burma and earlier this month Australian Foreign
>Minister Alexander Downer suggested that UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan
>should travel personally to Rangoon to mediate between Burma's military
rulers
>and the opposition NLD the National League for Democracy. But the
Burmese
>regime today rejected that suggestion outright.
>
> In a rare interview, a military official told "Asia-Pacific" [ this
feature]
>that Burma, or Myanmar as it is officially known can solve its own
problems.
>Lt-Col Hla Min also defended the government's refusal to allow Nobel
Prize
>winner Aung San Suu Kyi to travel outside the capital, saying the
restriction
>is for her own safety.
>
> [Hla Min] Due to the threats of violence, travel by prominent persons
to some
>part of the country is inadvisable at this time. And the KNU, the
Karen
>National Union, an armed insurgent separatist force, has threatened in
recent
>weeks to use guerrilla violence to achieve its aim. And a government
analysis
>[ as heard ] believed that those threats may include attacks on Ms Suu
Kyi,
>aimed at creating political instability in Myanmar.
>
> [Mares] But she just wants to leave the capital to meet with her
supporters,
>outside Rangoon.
>
> (A) Yes, So you see the government of Myanmar has the responsibility
of
>protecting all of its citizens from acts of political violence from
terrorist
>organizations and the government will take all necessary action to
protect Ms
>Suu Kyi from these threats, while also safeguarding her human rights,
>including the right to freedom of movement, as much as possible.
>
> [Q] But her right of freedom of movement is restricted, because she
can't
>leave the capital.
>
> [A] Well, it is as I have earlier mentioned. It is due to these
threats. This
>is not a permanent sort of thing. If the situation improves, then of
course
>she will be, it will be much more easy for her to move around.
>
> [Q] Why does the government refuse to meet with and negotiate with an
NLD
>delegation which includes Aung San Suu Kyi?
>
> [A] The government is always willing to have talks and discussions
with not
>only the NLD party, but the other existing nine political parties as
well. Of
>course the government would like to talk to the most responsible
person of
>each party, which are the officially appointed chairmen or presidents.
In the
>case of NLD the government has always expressed its willingness to meet
with
>the chairman of NLD, U Aung Shwe, and the officially recognized Central
>Executive Committee members, which is the top NLD officials. The
government
>find it extremely difficult to officially recognize party officials,
those who
>were officially expelled from respective parties by their own party
leaders.
>
> [Q] But Aung San Suu Kyi has been reinstated by the National League
for
>Democracy . She was expelled only under duress from the government.
>
> [A] No, no, no. Because , you see, there are many other parties also
that had
>a similar experience, some of them, of course because of their shady
>backgrounds and they were sort of expelled from their parties. But what
if all
>the parties started to reinstate all these people who have been
expelled?
>
> [Q] But surely that's a matter for the party to decide, who is
reinstated and
>who isn't?
>
> [A] But you see, they have reinstated, yes. We did not say that they
cannot
>reinstate. But that is not officially, that is for the internal
political
>activities [On] that we have nothing to say. But when it comes to
dealing
>with the government officially the government can only deal with the
>officially recognized senior party members.
>
> [Q] Backed by some other nations, Australia has called for United
Nations
>Secretary-General Kofi Annan to mediate between the government and the
>opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Would your government accept such
a
>mediating role by the UN secretary-General?
>
> [A] The government of Myanmar faithfully abides by the UN charter on
non-
>interference in other countries' internal affairs and do expect all
other UN
>member countries to act the same and would rather resolve such issues
without
>external intervention. Myanmar also believes it is in the process of
building
>conciliation and understanding with NLD and hopes the NLD also
reciprocate in
>the same manner, instead of inviting outsiders to resolve a family
issue.
>
> [Q] So you wouldn't accept a visit, a mediating role for the UN
secretary-
>general?
>
> [A] I think at this stage it is not necessary.
>
> [Q] But your partners in ASEAN, regional countries in ASEAN, the
United
>States, Australia, all around the world [ countries ] are concerned
about the
>political situation in Myanmar, in Burma, and the failure to move
forward.
>
> [A] Well, yes, we appreciate very much for their concern, but
actually, you
>see, we have our own ways and means to solve our internal issues. And
on that,
>we are following these ways and means, we are opening the doors for
>discussions and we are quite confident that we will reach
understanding. So we
>would like to solve our internal issues on our own.
>
> [Q] But as long as you refuse to speak to the internationally and
nationally
>recognized opposition figurehead, Aung San Suu Kyi , you are not really
>opening the door to dialogue, are you?
>
> [A] We have not ruled anything out. As I have earlier mentioned, the
>confidence-building measures have just started. That is one of the main
>reasons why would like to have it continued.
>
> [Q] So you are saying the government may consider also including Aung
San Suu
>Kyi in a dialogue?
>
> [A] We have not ruled anything out, so everything is possible. That is
why we
>want to continue with this confidence building process.
>
> [Mares] Burmese military spokesman Lt-Col Hla Min , who is Deputy
Director
>of International Affairs in the Office of Strategic Studies in Burma's
Defence
>Ministry.
>
>Source; Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 1005 GMT 27 Aug 98.
>
>************
>
>
>
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