EBO “
News Summary:
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meeting next week does not imply any change to EU
disapproval of the country's
military regime, an official said Friday.
Despite an EU visa
ban against
Khin Maung Win is
to attend the
Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday and Tuesday.
His presence is
allowed under an exception to the visa ban that permits
human rights and democracy, the EU official
said.
But she added:
"We remain as concerned as ever about the situation in
"Our concerns
about human rights and the need for a rapid return to
democracy mean that many years ago, we imposed
sanctions on
no justification for reversing that."
The EU had
previously refused to hold high-level talks in
following military-run
1997.
The EU, together
with the
in a bid to press the junta to initiate
reform. They include an arms embargo
and a travel ban on members of the regime.
But the EU does
not want the
concerns it has with ASEAN, the official said on
condition of anonymity.
"There are a
lot of things we could be doing together. We are not fully
exploiting the potential of the relationship,"
she said.
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The Foreign
& Commonwealth Office
Press Release
(
Foreign Office
Minister Mike O'Brien today telephoned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
the Burmese democracy leader. This was their
third regular telephone conversation
since November 2002. This latest conversation
was however much shorter than
previous ones due to constant interference and the
cutting out of the telephone
line. It is not clear what caused these
problems to the line.
Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi told Mr O'Brien that the National League for Democracy
wanted to work with the people and the
authorities for the sake of the country.
Urgent progress
was needed. The NLD did not want confrontation. But continued
harassment on the part of the authorities would only
invite confrontation.
Mr O'Brien told
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that the
the increasing restrictions being placed on
her freedom to travel and operate freely
and that the disruptions of her recent
meetings in
of the attitude of the Burmese regime'.
Before the
telephone link broke down, Mr O'Brien said that if the limited political
progress achieved to date in
to consider whether a tightening of policy
toward the regime was now required.
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BBC World News
By Larry Jagan
BBC Burma analyst
Human rights group
Amnesty International has been invited to
current developments, according to Burmese
government officials.
Two Amnesty
investigators will spend 10 days in
officials and representatives of other relevant
organisations.
They are also
expected to meet the leader of the opposition, Aung San Suu Kyi,
and representatives of many of the country's
ethnic groups.
This is the first
time the UK-based human rights organisation has been allowed
into the country.
Amnesty is wary of
making public any of the details of the trip for fear it might
jeopardise the
success of the mission.
For the Burmese
military government, it is a major publicity coup.
Amnesty
International has been one of the staunchest critics of the military
regime's human rights abuses ever since the army
seized power more than
14 years ago.
The Generals are
hoping that by inviting Amnesty, they can convince the international
community that they are serious about improving
their human rights record
and introducing democratic reform.
Short visit
But it will take
more than a single mission to do that.
Nevertheless,
of
Over the past few
years bodies like the International Red Cross, the International
Labour
Organisation and the United Nations Human Rights Commission have
all engaged the regime on issues related to
human rights.
As a result some
progress has indeed been made.
But the Amnesty
team cannot expect to achieve much on such a short visit,
other than familiarise themselves with the
situation first-hand and introduce
themselves to key members of the government.
Many democracy
activists outside the country fear that Amnesty is being used
to help deflect criticism of
UN
hearings on human rights that begin in
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