Reuter news on Dec. 6.

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: News on Dec. 6


Burmese ethnic groups ally to demand reforms

    BANGKOK, Dec 6 (Reuter) - Four ethnic minority groups which signed
ceasefires with the Burmese government have now formed an alliance to back
their demands for swifter progress towards democracy, rebel sources said on
Tuesday. 
    The Peace and Democratic Front (PDF) alliance was formed over the weekend
after weeklong talks between the groups involved, the sources told Reuters. 
    Kyauk Nyi Laing, the Wa ethnic leader, was appointed chairman of the PDF
which also comprises the Lahu, Kokang and Palong ethnic minorities. 
    The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), one of the main rebel
organisations which have signed ceasefires, did not participate in the talks,
which took place in northern Shan state bordering China, but sent a letter to
support the formation of the alliance, sources said. 
    ``PDF was formed because many armed factions who reached a ceasefire with
the government felt upset over delays with the development of democracy in
the country,'' one of the sources said. 
    At its first meeting the PDF agreed to demand that the ruling State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) speed up development of a democratic
system and recognise the results of Burma's 1990 general election. 
    It also demanded the release of political prisoners including Aung San
Suu Kyi, the National league for Democracy (NLD) leader who has been held
under house arrest since July, 1989. 
    SLORC, the military-backed government which took power in 1988 after the
brutal suppression of a pro-democracy movement, ignored the results of the
1990 election won convincingly by the NLD despite Suu Kyi's detention. 
    The rebel sources said that as well as forming an alliance on the
political front, the PDF had agreed on military cooperation in case one of
its members was attacked. 
    The four PDF groups have more than 40,000 armed men in rebel armies which
have not been disbanded despite the ceasefire pacts. 
    ``The forming of PDF indicates that the SLORC has failed to develop a
democratic system as it promised to the rebels. I believe it will expand into
one of the main opposition organisations against the SLORC,'' a Shan rebel
source who monitors Burma said. 
    Kyauk Nyi Laing is also a former leader of the Burmese Communist Party
(BCP), which denounced communism in the early 1980s and also signed a
ceasefire agreement. 
    In April, 1992, the SLORC declared a unilateral suspension of hostilities
against dozens of rebel ethnic minority groups who had been fighting for
autonomy from central government since Burma gained independence from Britain
in 1948, and offered peace negotiations. 
    Thirteen armed factions have signed ceasefires with the SLORC to date. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 94-12-06 03:07:38 EST
*************


Europe envoy snubbed by Burmese regime

    BANGKOK, Dec 6 (Reuter) - A European Parliament envoy said on Tuesday
that Burmese military authorities snubbed him during his visit to Rangoon
this week and refused to let him see detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi. 
    Glyn Ford, a British representative of the European Union's parliament,
told Reuters he carried a letter from parliament president Klaus Haensch
inviting Suu Kyi to Europe to accept the Sakharov prize awarded to her in
1990. 
    ``The Burmese authorities refused to meet me at all. It was a total blank
wall,'' said Ford, who last week attended a democracy forum in South Korea
that called for improved human rights and the release of political prisoners
in military-run Burma. 
    ``This can only be taken as a rebuff to the European Parliament. Clearly
they don't want a dialogue with the European Union,'' he said. 
    European leaders have indicated over the past several months they may be
softening their stand towards Burma after years of apparently ineffectual
isolation tactics. 
    The State Law and Order Restoration Council has been shunned by the West
after crushing a democracy uprising in 1988 and  refusing to recognise the
1990 election victory of the National League for Democracy party funded by
Suu Kyi. 
    Suu Kyi, under house arrest since 1989, was awarded the Nobel peace prize
in 1991. 
    Two meetings between Suu Kyi and junta representatives over the past
three months have sparked hopes of change. 
    But Ford said after speaking to European ambassadors, former politicians
and unnamed opposition figures, ``The view is at this time the situation for
most opposition leaders is not changed. 
    ``Most people are happy (about the meetings)...but they're not sure how
much further it's going to go.'' 
    Ford said the message he would carry back to the parliament, which meets
next week, would not be encouraging. ``People keep saying the regime has
improved. I saw no evidence for that.'' 
    The role of the European Parliament includes approval of European Union
trade agreements, Ford said. The European Commission is currently debating
whether to impose a quota on textile imports from Burma, he said. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 94-12-06 10:39:50 EST
*********


South Korea donates $200,000 in equipment to Burma

    BANGKOK, Dec 6 (Reuter) - South Korea has donated $200,000 worth of heavy
equipment and spare parts to Burma for roadbuilding along its borders,
Rangoon's state-run media reported. 
    The equipment included two bulldozers, one roadroller and spare parts, it
said. 
    South Korea, one of Burma's bigger trading partners, donated pumps and
tractors in 1992 and 1993 for similar programmes. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 94-12-06 08:45:47 EST