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Burma drug meet starts



Politics 
Burma drug meet starts

RANGOON -- The Western boycott of an Interpol-sponsored drug conference in
Burma means action against drugs is being held hostage by politics, a senior
official of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) said on
Tuesday. 

Most Western countries are boycotting the fourth International Heroin
Conference, which opened on Tuesday in Rangoon, to protest against
human-rights
abuses by the Burmese junta. 

Paul Higdon, director of Interpol's criminal-intelligence department,
expressed
disappointment at the boycott, saying: ''I regret a political situation
that is
viewed by many as a serious problem has held hostage the universally
recognised
problem of drug abuse.'' 

''There is more to gain through dialogue than through boycott. There is not a
single country which is not affected by drug trafficking and use. It is a
global problem needing cooperation and mutual assistance,'' Higdon said. 

Attending the four-day conference are 64 delegates from 23 Interpol member
countries, including Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand. The United
States, Britain, Canada, Denmark and Norway are among those absent. 

Defending the choice of Rangoon, Interpol secretary-general Raymond Kendall,
was quoted in a message as saying: ''It is high time the international
community became acquainted with the excellent work that is being carried out
in Myanmar against the illicit production and trafficking of heroin.'' 

In Bangkok, the UN International Drug Control Programme praised Burma's
anti-narcotic efforts and cooperation, though admitting that the country
remained one of the world's largest producers of opium and heroin. 

Speaking at the launching on Tuesday of the International Narcotics Control
Board's 1998 drug report, Christian Kornevall, UNDCP representative, said
Burma's opium output in 1998 had fallen to 1,700 tonnes for various reasons,
chiefly because of poor weather. 

It was the first time the figures for Burmese opium production provided by
three key sources, the United Nations, the United States and the Burmese
military government, had matched, he added. 


Kyodo, The Nation