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AFP-Senior UN official meets Myanma



Subject: AFP-Senior UN official meets Myanmar junta Secretary One

Senior UN official meets Myanmar junta Secretary One

Fri 27 Nov 98 - 10:25 GMT

BANGKOK, Nov 27 (AFP) - A senior United Nations official has met Myanmar
junta First Secretary Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt in Yangon, UN officials
and the junta said Friday.

The visit follows reports that the UN and the World Bank had proposed a one
billion dollar aid lifeline to Myanmar in exchange for genuine political
dialogue between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A junta official told AFP in a statement that a report this week in the
International Herald Tribune was "making everybody jumpy" but it was
"premature to make any comment at this stage."

No details of the talks Thursday between Khin Nyunt and UN assistant
secretary general Nay Htun were made public.

A source who was present during the meeting said the aid-for-talks proposal
was raised but was not the central topic of discussions.

A UN spokesman in Yangon said the two probably talked about issues relating
to the UN Development Programme.

He said the aid-for-talks concept remained a "billion dollar question" and
he knew only that the idea had been raised during last month's visit by UN
special envoy to Myanmar Alvaro de Soto.

"This is something that has been discussed between the authorities and Mr De
Soto but I don't have any more information," he told AFP by telephone from
Yangon.

Nay Htun, who is also director of the UN's bureau for the Asia-Pacific, was
due to leave Yangon on Friday evening.

Aung San Suu Kyi led the National League for Democracy (NLD) party to a
landslide victory in 1990 elections but the junta -- the State Peace and
Development Council -- has refused to recognise the result.

Political talks have stalled over the junta's refusal to negotiate with Aung
San Suu Kyi about the formation of the elected government.

The UN General Assembly's human rights commission last week sharply
criticized "continuing violations of human rights" in Myanmar and called on
the government to hold talks with the opposition.

The European Union and the United States, among others, enforce trade and
aid sanctions against the junta over its poor human rights record and its
refusal to recognise the NLD's election victory.

)AFP 1998