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AFP-Myanmar junta conditions on dia



Subject: AFP-Myanmar junta conditions on dialogue likely to scupper talks

Myanmar junta conditions on dialogue likely to scupper talks
BANGKOK, July 15 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta has put a pre-condition on dialogue
with Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition which effectively rules out talks any
time soon, analysts in Yangon said Thursday.
The junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), said
Wednesday it was prepared to talk only if the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) dissolved its interim parliament set up last year.

But diplomats in Yangon told AFP that was like asking the NLD to give up
everything it has fought for since its sweeping election victory in 1990
which was ignored by the junta.

Hundreds of NLD supporters, including scores of MPs, have been imprisoned or
detained since a committee representing the "people's parliament" was set up
in August, a move which infuriated the generals.

NLD leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is not likely to betray their
sacrifice to take up the junta's ill-defined offer of "meaningful
interaction," diplomats said.

"Everybody knows that (the junta's pre-condition) is a non-starter and the
committee is one of the main things the NLD is clinging to," one envoy told
AFP from Yangon.

"I can't see that this seriously represents some sort of new initiative. It
shows how little is happening when we have to read the tea leaves like
this."

A junta spokesman said the de-facto parliament could lead to "institutional
confusion, social chaos and political crisis" without a constitution to back
it up.

The junta has been drafting a constitution through a convention of
hand-picked supporters which would guarantee its permanent role in politics.

"The government views with grave concern the NLD's convening of a parliament
before the country had time to complete a national convention which will
ensure political stability," he said in a statement Thursday.

"Without a constitution the government would be unable to govern
effectively."

Aung San Suu Kyi told AFP recently the committee had been recognised by the
European parliament and certain foreign governments.

"I think we can say that our greatest success has been the fact that the
authorities were shaken by the forming of this committee," she said.

A special European Union mission met junta officials as well as Aung San Suu
Kyi last week, partly in a bid to bring them together.

Diplomats here and in Yangon have been silent on the results, although a
British envoy in Yangon said Thursday that the team's findings could be
known early next week.

The junta spokesman said the EU's effort had "nothing to do with"
Wednesday's statement in the SPDC's official "information sheet."

The mission is the latest in a long line of attempts by the international
community to bring the two sides to a negotiating table.

The World Bank last year reportedly offered the junta non-humanitarian
aid -- cut off in the wake of repeated allegations of gross human rights
abuses -- in exchange for genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.

That unofficial proposal has been put on the backburner following
suggestions it was akin to bribing the generals, although diplomats in
Yangon say it is still a possible solution.

In June the United Nations said it was planning to send an envoy on a new
mission to Myanmar in a bid to encourage political dialogue.

UN Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette said Myanmar's neighbours were
"gently encouraging" the junta to accept the mission by Alvaro de Soto,
special envoy of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Diplomats in Yangon have said de Soto could travel to Myanmar as early as
August to try to convince Myanmar's generals to ease their grip on the
country or at least open talks with Aung San Suu Kyi.