London "wholly condemns" Myanmar op

[tinkyi@xxxxxxx]

London "wholly condemns" Myanmar opposition arrests

Wed 09 Sep 98 - 14:23 GMT

LONDON, Sept 9 (AFP) - The British government on Wednesday said it "wholly
condemns" the latest arrests of opposition activists in Myanmar.

In a statement issued in London, Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett
said: "As a result of the deteriorating situation in Burma, we are looking
at further measures to bring about substantive dialogue with the
opposition."

He added the government was also considering how to persuade the Myanmar
military junta to "respect the results of the 1990 elections."

Measures being considered by London and its European Union partners included
an EU troika ministerial visit to Yangon to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of
the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), said Fatchett.

In addition, London urged its EU partners to adopt its positions of
discouraging tourism, trade or investment in Myanmar.

On Wednesday the NLD said the military government had arrested 108 more of
its members, bringing the number detained since Sunday to 328, and since May
to 521.

In 1990, the NLD and other opposition parties won in a landslide election
but the military refused to hand over power and has since rejected repeated
demands that the 1990 parliament be convened.

Observers in Yangon said the arrests appeared to be a pre-emptive strike
following the NLD's announcement that it intends unilaterally to convene by
the end of September the parliament elected in 1990.


)AFP 1998