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Veteran Burmese politicians call fo
- Subject: Veteran Burmese politicians call fo
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 07 Aug 1997 17:13:00
Subject: Veteran Burmese politicians call for dialogue
Veteran Burmese politicians call for dialogue
06:47 a.m. Aug 07, 1997 Eastern
RANGOON, Aug 7 (Reuter) - A group of veteran Burmese
politicians has written to the military government urging it to hold a
dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy party.
The letter, dated August 5 and received by Reuters on Thursday,
said a dialogue between leaders of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) and Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD) party was the only hope for the nation which it
said was mired in an economic and political crisis.
The letter was signed by 23 politicians, including former colleagues of
Suu Kyi's father, national hero General Aung San.
``We humbly appeal to the SLORC and representatives of the NLD
which include Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to meet and discuss how to
get over the crisis of the country for the benefit of the entire nation,''
the three-page letter said.
Suu Kyi has made repeated unanswered requests for dialogue with
the SLORC since she was released from six years of house arrest in
July, 1995.
Last month an unprecedented meeting took place between military
intelligence leader Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt and NLD
chairman Aung Shwe.
Although the NLD said it was not dialogue without Suu Kyi's
involvement, a government official said it was an important step for
both sides.
The letter, a copy of which was sent to the NLD, urged the
government to unite with the opposition to solve the nation's
problems.
``We honestly think the problems Myanmar (Burma) is currently
facing are not of a single person nor a single organisation. It has
become a national crisis concerning all people,'' it said.
``It is high time for all people to together solve the national crisis,''
said the letter which detailed the political, social and economic
situation in Burma.
The letter was signed by Bohmu Aung on behalf of the veteran
politicians -- most of whom took part in the nation's struggle for
independence.
Bohmu Aung was a member of the Thirty Comrades, a group of
young nationalists smuggled out of then British-ruled Burma in the
1940s and trained in Japanese-occupied China to fight for Burma's
independence.
The Thirty Comrades, who included Suu Kyi's father who negotiated
independence from Britain in the aftermath of World War Two, are
modern Burma's national heroes.
The group wrote a similar letter in November 1995, but it was never
heeded by the government. ^REUTER@