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U.S. Slams Burma for Role in Drug T



Subject: U.S. Slams Burma for Role in Drug Trade

Monday July 28 5:07 PM EDT 

U.S. Slams Burma for Role in Drug Trade

By Ian MacKenzie 

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuter) - The United States on Monday accused Burma of
officially encouraging the drug trade as narcotics trafficking came under
the spotlight at an ASEAN
conference of leading Asian and Western nations. 

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who acknowledged Burma's recent
joining of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) despite Western disapproval,
said drug
traffickers were "now leading lights in Burma's new market economy and
leading figures in its new
political order." 

"Drug money has become so pervasive in Burma that it taints legitimate
investment and threatens
the region as a whole," she told the conference. 

"Indeed, it is hard to imagine a lasting solution to this region's narcotics
problem without a lasting
solution to Burma's political crisis." 

She said the United States had successfully worked with Thailand and Laos on
opium eradication
programs and planned to sponsor more such projects in Laos and elsewhere. 

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov told the 19-nation meeting that
drug trafficking and
related economic crimes were more than topical. 

"We need to cooperate vigorously in joint actions against these evils which
in varying degrees and
forms are present in all our countries," he said. 

Primakov called for an international meeting to identify the scope of the
problem, to elaborate on
basic principles of cooperation and to establish a data bank open to "all
interested agencies in our
countries." 

ASEAN members Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei have mandatory death penalties
for drug
trafficking. The group also comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the
Philippines and newly
joined Burma and Laos. 

Also attending the conference, which winds up on Tuesday after a week of
ASEAN and related
meetings, are so-called dialogue partners the United States, Russia, China,
Japan, European
Union, South Korea, India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam described drug abuse as a
"burning global
issue." 

He said control of trafficking, preventive education, treatment and
rehabilitation were part of
ASEAN's plan of action. 

"We call on the international community to join efforts to reduce demand for
drugs, and we look
forward to increased support from dialogue partners to assist ASEAN in these
cooperative
projects," Cam said.