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Australian Foreign Minister and Bur



Subject: Australian Foreign Minister and Burma

Downer proposes solution to Burma's political standoff
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(The Age)

By CRAIG SKEHAN , SOUTH-EAST ASIA CORRESPONDENT SINGAPORE, SUNDAY

Australia will intervene to help break the political stalemate in Burma
between the military regime and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, yesterday floated a series of
proposals during talks in Singapore with the US Secretary of State,
Madeleine Albright. He is to pursue the plan with the Burmese Foreign
Minister, Win Aung, when the pair meet on Wednesday.

While Mr Downer declined to release details of the Australian initiative
before the meeting, sources said political progress in Burma could lead to
increased Australian development assistance.

This follows overtures from the United Nations and hopes that holding out
World Bank funding for impoverished Burma would contribute to breaking the
decade-long deadlock.

Burma's military regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council,
refused to recognise 1990 elections won by Ms Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy and has stated publicly that the country's sovereignty is ``not
for sale''.

But the regime has not closed off scope for dialogue with the UN, the World
Bank and bilateral donors.

Mr Downer told a media conference yesterday in Singapore, where the
Association of South-East Asian Nations is holding talks with neighboring
countries and major powers, that tactics to pressure Burma into political
reforms had so far failed.

He said European sanctions had ``not worked all that well'', United States
investment and other restrictions had ``not borne fruit'' and the ASEAN
policy of so-called constructive engagement ``has not been terribly
successful''.

``Anyway, everybody has got a slightly different policy and none of them
seem to have worked,'' Mr Downer said.

He said ASEAN nations, although reluctant to publicly criticise Burma as a
member of the grouping, wanted to see the military regime ``moving forward''
on issues such as adoption of a new constitution so new elections could be
held.

``I think it must have been two years ago I said it was moving at the speed
of glue running up hill,'' Mr Downer said. ``This year I think I'll use the
word glacial.


``Obviously that is a problem for Burma. And it is a problem other members
of ASEAN would like to feel could be fixed.''

He said he would be making a public statement on his proposals after meeting
the Burmese Foreign Minister.