Reuters-SE Asia labour ministers to

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Subject: Reuters-SE Asia labour ministers to meet in Myanmar 

SE Asia labour ministers to meet in Myanmar
08:44 p.m May 09, 1999 Eastern
YANGON, May 10 (Reuters) - Labour ministers from the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet in the Myanmar capital of Yangon on May
14 and 15, the official Myanma News Agency (MNA) said on Sunday.

The agency said senior government and labour officials from the 10-nation
grouping would also attend the meeting.

Myanmar's military government is shunned by many Western nations who accuse
the ruling generals of serious violations of human rights, including the use
of forced labour.

But ASEAN -- grouping Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- maintains a strict
policy of non-interference in what it regards as the internal affairs of its
members.

The Myanmar government denies allegations of human rights abuses and accuses
the opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, of
spreading lies against it.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the country's last general
election in 1990 by a landslide but the result was never recognised by the
military.

MNA quoted the powerful Secretary One of Myanmar's ruling State Peace and
Development Council, Khin Nyunt, as saying delegates visiting Myanmar would
see the true situation in the country for themselves.

``External and internal destructive elements who do not want Myanmar's
development are spreading fabricated news about Myanmar by making use of
international news agencies and therefore some countries do not have a
chance to know the true situation in Myanmar,'' he said.

Khin Nyunt said southeast Asian health ministers would also meet in Myanmar
soon. He did not give dates for the meeting.