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Britain to End Burma Trade
                         Support 

                         Thursday, June 19, 1997; 10:55 p.m. EDT 

                         LONDON (AP) -- Britain's government said Thursday
it will
                         suspend financial support for companies trading
with Burma
                         until that country makes greater strides toward
democracy. 

                         Derek Fatchett, a junior minister in the Foreign
Office, told
                         Parliament he would encourage Britain's European Union
                         partners to take similar action. 

                         ``The government will not provide any financial
support to
                         companies for trade missions to Burma or for trade
promotion
                         activities within Burma until there is progress towards
                         democratic reform and respect for human rights in
Burma,'' he
                         said. 

                         Human rights groups say Burma sentenced more than 1,000
                         political activists to prison last year, often
under cruel and
                         inhuman conditions. 

                         The United States imposed economic sanctions
against Burma
                         in April because of its repression of the country's
democracy
                         movement led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu
                         Kyi. 

                         Britain's new Labor government, elected in May, has
pledged
                         to make human rights a centerpiece of its foreign
policy.