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Bkk Post -Call for Burma to help en



Subject: Bkk Post -Call for Burma to help enforce drug crackdown along border

Bangkok post - July 27, 1999.
Call for Burma to help enforce drug crackdown along border
Thailand shifting blame, says junta

Thailand yesterday called for close co-operation from Burma and urged it to
honour a pledge by their leaders to crack down on the drug problem along
their common border.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the Burmese government
should demonstrate its willingness to co-operate with Thailand in a bid to
stop the influx of speed pills. Authorities have seized 18 million tablets
in the past six months.

His call came in the wake of a comment by a senior officer for the National
Narcotics Operation Centre that the Burmese government was backing the
United Wa State Army, a main producer of the drug.

M.R. Sukhumbhand remained cautious about the report, saying that accusing
Burma of direct involvement was a "very serious step" and "unless we have
evidence, we will not and can not do so".

"The best way for the Burmese government to show its sincerity is to
co-operate with us closely," M.R. Sukhumbhand said.

The deputy minister was referring to a pledge by Burmese Prime Minister Than
Shwe and Premier Chuan Leekpai at their March summit in Chiang Rai, where
the two leaders vowed to step up narcotics suppression along the border.

The two leaders also agreed to set up a joint body comprising narcotics
authorities and officials involved to suppress the problem.

With or without evidence, M.R. Sukhumbhand admitted the drugs were a severe
problem.

Burma has flatly denied any involvement in the drug trade.

A military spokesman in Rangoon said the claim was "meant purely for public
relations" as Thai officials were panicking and "putting the blame on
others" for the drug menace.

"It is regretful as well as amazing how the responsible Thai narcotics
officials can come up with such irresponsible statements," the spokesman
said in a statement received by dpa in Bangkok yesterday.

The Burmese embassy has also denied involvement and questioned the evidence
produced by the Thai officer.

"In the midst of enjoying the bilateral co-operation in the fight against
narcotic drugs, this kind of unscrupulous accusation and reporting will only
jeopardise the spirit of goodwill and co-operation," it said in a statement

obtained by the Bangkok Post.

Burma destroyed 4,000kg of heroin, 30,000kg of raw opium, 13 million
methamphetamine tablets and 90,000 acres of poppy fields during its 10-year
operation which ended in 1997, the statement said.