News from Reuter on Nov. 15 & 16

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: News from Reuter on Nov. 15 & 16 

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Burma, Vietnam agree to cooperate in drugs fight

	HANOI, Nov 15 (Reuter) - Burma and Vietnam have agreed to work together to
encourage hill tribes to grow crops other than the opium poppy and to combat
narcotics use, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on Tuesday.
Major-General Maung Thint, Burma's minister for development of border areas
and minorities, held talks on the issue with Vietnamese ministers over the
past week, the agency said.  The two sides ``agreed to cooperate and assist
each other in planting other trees instead of the opium poppy,'' it said.
They discussed measures to prevent storage, exchange and use of the drug in
mountainous and border areas. Thint met Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet on Monday,
the latest in a growing list of contacts between the two governments since
Kiet visited Burma last May. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 94-11-14 23:23:21 EST
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U.N. rights investigator meets Burmese general

	RANGOON, Nov 15 (Reuter) - A United Nations special rapporteur on human
rights in Burma has met a senior member of the ruling junta, Burma's official
media reported on Tuesday. Japanese professor Yozo Yokota met military
intelligence  chief Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt for ``cordial talks'' on
Monday which included discussion of the government's endeavours in connection
with human rights, the media said. 
	Burmese generals including Khin Nyunt have in the past rejected what they
called Western concepts of human rights, saying such notions were
inappropriate for Burma.  Yokota arrived in Burma on November 7 and has
travelled around the country to investigate human rights conditions. Yokota
on Monday visited Rangoon's main Insein jail and visited various facilities
including the prison kitchen, the media reported. There was no mention of him
meeting any of the political prisoners held there. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 94-11-15 03:49:00 EST
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Burmese ethnic separatists say fighting continues

	MAE SOT, Thailand, Nov 15 (Reuter) - Ethnic minority Burmese separatist
guerrillas said on Tuesday they have killed or wounded scores of government
troops in their war for autonomy in southeast Burma in recent months. But
they gave no figures for their own casualties in their fight with Rangoon for
greater autonomy that began in 1949, a year after Burma won independence from
Britain. 
	The Rangoon junta's attempts to strike ceasefires with the Karen and Mon
ethnic minority rebels have failed, largely because the rebels say the junta
refuses to grant any political concessions. The guerrillas, in battle reports
obtained by Reuters on Tuesday in this Thai town on the Burmese border, said
government-rebel clashes were continuing in many areas of Karen and Mon
states. 
	The reports said nearly 100 government soldiers were killed or wounded in
numerous small clashes and ambushes in September and October.  The Karen
guerrillas, the largest rebel army, say they are keen to begin peace talks
with Rangoon, but insist they take place outside Burma. Peace talks between
the Mon rebels and Rangoon broke down recently after three meetings. The Mon
said it was because the junta refused to make any concessions.  The Rangoon
junta has struck ceasefire deals with 13 insurgent groups and small splinter
factions since 1989. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 94-11-15 00:42:47 EST
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Karen guerrillas suspected of Burma attack

	MYAWADI, Burma, Nov 16 (Reuter) - Suspected ethnic minority Karen guerrillas
fired five rockets on Wednesday into the Burmese town of Myawadi, sending
thousands fleeing in panic but causing no injuries. Burmese soldiers said
five rockets landed in the town, which is on the Thai border, in the early
hours of the morning.  Karen guerrillas have been battling Rangoon for
greater autonomy since 1949, a year after Burma gained independence from
Britain. Thailand and Burma recently agreed to build a river bridge linking
Myawadi with the western Thai town of Mae Sot. 

REUTERrsb
Transmitted: 94-11-15 23:32:46 EST
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