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U.N. official to discuss Burma's im
- Subject: U.N. official to discuss Burma's im
- From: nin@xxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 05:59:00
Subject: U.N. official to discuss Burma's image
Subject: U.N. official to discuss Burma's image
===============================================
RANGOON, Feb 19 (Reuter) - The U.N. Director of Political
Affairs is in Burma on a six-day visit to discuss how to improve
the country's battered image abroad, a Rangoon-based U.N.
official said on Wednesday.
Francese Vendrell arrived on Monday, said the official, who
asked not to be identified.
"The main purpose of Mr Vendrell's visit is for consultation
with the Burmese government about improving Burma's
international image," he said.
Official newspapers said Vendrell called on Secretary
General U Than Aung of the government-sponsored Union Solidarity
and Development Association (USDA) on Tuesday.
The USDA was the group accused by Burma's opposition of
launching an attack with sticks and rocks on the motorcade of
their leader Aung San Suu Kyi last November.
Suu Kyi earlier this month said a government minister had
urged USDA members to kill her. The government has dismissed the
charge.
A diplomatic source said Vendrell was expecting to meet Suu
Kyi before he left Burma on February 23.
Burma's government has held hundreds of opposition activists
in recent years, although many of them have since been released,
and Suu Kyi has accused it of harassing her party, the National
League for Democracy.
Some major corporations and private investors from the
United States and European Union, which support Suu Kyi's call
for greater democracy in the country, have withdrawn investments
from the cash-strapped country.
The country's image received another blow in a U.N. rebuke
of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
for suppressing the opposition. Washington has threatened
economic sanctions if the situation worsens.
The SLORC has told the United States and other Western
powers critical of it to allow it to handle its domestic
politics in its own way.
REUTER