Reuter news on Dec. 6. (r)

[jhb3@xxxxxxxxxxx]

>Date: Wed, 7 Dec 1994 01:42:44 -0500
>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>From: jhb3@xxxxxxxxxxx (John H. Badgley)
>Subject: Re: Reuter news on Dec. 6.
>To: Recipients of conference <reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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>Errors-To: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
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>From: jhb3@xxxxxxxxxxx (john badgley)
>
>>Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 16:50:47 -0500
>>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>From: FreeBurma@xxxxxxx
>>Subject: Reuter news on Dec. 6.
>>To: Recipients of conference <reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>X-Gateway: conf2mail@xxxxxxxxxxx
>>Errors-To: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
>>Precedence: bulk
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>>
>>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
>>
>>
>
>john badgley
>607-255-7229
>fax 607-255-8438
>
>

john badgley
607-255-7229
fax 607-255-8438