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NEWS - No Response on Myanmar Junta



Subject: NEWS - No Response on Myanmar Junta - Nld Talks

No Response on Myanmar Junta - Nld Talks

               Reuters
               10-JUL-99

               YANGON, July 10 (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling military has
               yet to respond to an offer by the main opposition party
to
               begin a low-level dialogue, an opposition leader said. 

               Tin Oo, vice chairman of the National League for
               Democracy, told Reuters the military had said talks
between
               the ruling State Peace and Development Council and the
               opposition should start at a low level. 

               "We agree to that, but they haven''t given us any
response
               yet," he said in an interview. 

               The government has insisted as a pre-condition to talks
that
               the opposition renounce a committee it established to
               represent a parliament elected in Myanmar''s last
election. 

               The NLD won the 1990 poll, but the military ignored the
               result. 

               Asked if the committee would be dissolved to pave the way
               for dialogue, Tin Oo said: "No, it was formed to work for
               dialogue, so we can''t dissolve it." 

               He also said that NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi would have
               to be included once talks reached a summit level. 

               The generals have long refused to talk with Suu Kyi, the
               1991 Nobel Peace laureate who has been their most
               formidable opponent since emerging as a dissident leader
at
               the height of a pro-democracy uprising crushed by troops
in
               1988. 

               Tin Oo said the political situation remained in a
stalemate
               but an eventual dialogue involving the government, the
               opposition and ethnic minority groups was inevitable.
"There
               will be a dialogue -- nobody can avoid it," he said. "It
is the
               solution. 

               "We are very optimistic about getting back our
(democratic)
               legitimacy with the coming of the 21st century; we are
not
               just waiting idly. The people are also very much in need
of a
               great change." 


               Tin Oo said the visit by a fact-finding delegation from
the
               European Union last week was a positive step. 

               "They came to listen, to hear, and assess, but didn''t
offer
               anything or come back with new initiatives. No substance
               has come out yet, but we welcome this kind of movement." 

               However, he said chances of former South African
president
               Nelson Mandela acting as a mediator in Myanmar appeared
               remote. 

               "The Mandela proposal has faded away," he said. "But as
               long as somebody proposes something for reconciliation,
we
               would welcome it." 

               Foreign Minister Win Aung poured cold-water over the idea
               of foreign mediation when he told Reuters on Thursday
               Myanmar could solve its own problems. He said Myanmar
               had received no mediation offer from Mandela. 

               A South African diplomat told Reuters last month Mandela
               would consider mediation if formally asked by the
opposition.

               Tin Oo said the military continued to detain hundreds of
NLD
               members, including at least 60 who won seats in the
               election. 

               He rejected government allegations that the NLD backed
the
               Karen National Union, an insurgent group that has fought
for
               decades for greater autonomy from Yangon. 

               "We don''t support the KNU -- we are sympathetic to them
               only," he said. "We don''t give any physical support to
them;
               only moral support. Their demands also should be solved
at
               the table."