Free Burma Digest (Sept.2): Narco- (r)

[cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

dawn star wrote:
> 
> in addition to the excellent work by FBC on their website, EuroBurmanet
> would like to tell those of you who may not know that perhaps the most
> comprehensive website on Slorc narcotraffic can be found here:
> 
> http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/drugs>
> >
> should you have problem connecting, be patient, it gets some 30 000
> visits a day. the movement is growing, and moving closer to freedom in
> burma everyday with your effort....
> 
> metta,
> Dawn Star
> PARIS
>                   .  Our (FBC) web-team have updated recently the site.
> Under the "Urgent Action" & "Free NLD" prisoners section, we have
> necessary information to wage an Amnesty International-inspired letter
> writing campaign for the release of such prominent NLD players as U Win
> Tin (CEC member and famous journalist in his 60s), U Win Htein, a top
> aide (to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi) and policy researcher, and Daw Suu's
> cousins and appointment secretaries and col
> >
> > Another new section "Heroin, Multinationals, and Dictators" has also been added to aid those of us who wish to dig up info and quotes about heroin and SLORC complicity in its production.  Of late, heroin has become a key campaign issue.  There is room for improvement, and we welcome suggestions as to how we can make it better, more valuable.
> >
> > The organizing for the FBC Conference at UCLA and the local organizers there has been meeting every week to ensure the success of this political event.  If you are remotely interested in being part of that community effort, we would strongly encourage you to come and join us there.  The conference information and web-registration is up at our website at the FBC website (see the URL address above).
> >
> > Finally, for our Burmese colleagues who are poetically minded, we are planning to create a Burmese poetry section.  A good selection of poems from the 11th century up to the present will become available for your reference, as well as enjoyment.
> >
> > FBC Digest Group
> >
> > **********************************************************************
> > From: Caroline Lurie <lurie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > BURMESE LEADERS WILL NOT BE GIVEN VISAS, SAYS COOK
> > 2.9.97/THE NATION
> > AFP
> >
> > SINGAPORE - British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook yesterday ruled
> > out Burma's participation in an Asia-Europe summit next April in
> > London and said Southeast Asian governments understood his
> > country's position.
> >
> > "Even if we wish to, we cannot give the visas for the ministers
> > of Myanmar to attend in a European capital," Cook told
> > journalists, citing a common policy among members of the European
> > Union (EU) barring high-level Burmese visits.
> >
> > EU members imposed the ban as part of sanctions on Burma, renamed
> > Myanmar by a military junta which seized power in 1988 and is
> > widely accused of human rights abuses and links with
> > international drug trafficking.
> >
> > Burma was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian
> > Nations (Asean) last July but this does not mean automatic entry
> > into the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem), which held an inaugural
> > 25-nation summit in Bangkok in 1996.
> >
> > Cook, concluding the first Southeast Asian tour by a British
> > foreign secretary in a decade, said he expressed Britain's
> > position against admitting Burma into the Asia-Europe talks to
> > officials he met in the region.
> >
> > "I have not found any problem expressed on this because the Asem
> > meeting is not a dialogue between the European Union and Asean,"
> > said Cook, who earlier visited Malaysia, Indonesia and the
> > Philippines on his week-long swing.
> >
> > "It's a dialogue between the European countries and some Asian
> > countries at which membership is resolved by consensus, so this
> > is not a source of friction or difficulty between us, and indeed
> > the Asean members do understand our difficulties with Myanmar,~
> > he said.
> >
> > Cook acknowledged the differences in approach between the EU and
> > Asean, which prefers a policy of gentle persuasion towards the
> > junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), to
> > promote reform in Burma.
> >
> > But he said he found a "common recognition of the problems of
> > Myanmar both in terms of its government system and in terms of
> > the connivance of the government in the drug trade within
> > Myanmar."
> >
> > "As I have said before, there is an honest difference of approach
> > as to how we'll try and resolve that. In Europe, we s
> > have taken the view that we cannot have a dialogue with a
> > government that is both as oppressive as Slorc and as
> > irresponsible in its connivance with the drug barons," he said.
> >
> > "That is why we will not give visas to ministers from Myanmar to
> > come to Europe," Cook added.
> >
> > Earlier yesterday, in a forum with British businessmen, he said
> > governments of the developed world were not prepared to recognise
> > Burma's regime until it accepted democratic reforms and
> > cooperated in fighting the drug menace.
> >
> > "It is not only a deeply repressive regime but it is also a
> > deeply irresponsible regime," Cook said in reply to a question
> > from a British businessman who wanted know whether London
> > encouraged investments in Burma, the world's largest producer of
> > opium.
> >
> > He said the military junta was one of the few governments in the
> > world "whose members are prepared to profit in the drugs trade
> > rather than repress the drugs trade.
> 
> >
> > BURMA BLASTS UK ON DRUG ACCUSATION
> > 3.9.97/THE NATION
> > REUTER
> >
> > BURMA'S military government yesterday lashed out at Britain for
> > accusing Rangoon of profiting from the drugs trade, and said it
> > was awaiting a regional response before commenting on a decision
> > not to allow Burma to attend an Asia-Europe summit next year.
> >
> > "The British Foreign Secretary's statement criticising Myanmar
> > [Burma] on the involvement in narcotics drugs is regarded here as
> > the century's greatest hypocritical statement," a government
> > official said in a statement.
> >
> > "The drug problem which we are encountering today is the direct
> > result of Britain's colonial strategy of 150 years ago," he said.
> > "Britain should actually be taking the lead in assisting the
> > victim countries clean up the mess she had originally and
> > internationally created instead of pointing fingers at Myanmar to
> > cover up her own fault."
> >
> > Britain controlled parts of Burma from the early 1800s. Burma
> > became independent in early 1948.
> >
> > British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on Monday condemned the
> > Burmese government for profiting from the drugs trade.
> >
> > "Burma is the largest single world producer of opium, and it has
> > achieved that infamous position precisely because it is a
> > government that does not act against the drug barons," he said in
> > Singapore.
> >
> > "It is not only a deeply repressive regime, but it is also a
> > deeply irresponsible regime in that it is one of the few
> > governments in the world whose members are prepared to profit out
> > of the drugs trade rather than to seek to suppress the drugs
> > trade," he added.
> >
> > Cook also said Europe's recent decision to deny visas to senior
> > Burmese officials made their inclusion at the Asia-Europe Meeting
> > (Asem) in London in April "impossible".
> >
> > A senior government official in Rangoon said Burma was awaiting a
> > response from members of the Association of South East Asian
> > Nations (Asean) before responding to that decision.
> >
> > "I think Asean itself is going to raise a stink," the official
> > said by telephone from Rangoon. "It's a Three Musketeers attitude
> > - one for all and all for one."
> >
> > Asean recently accepted Burma as a full member to the regional
> > grouping over strong protests from its Western trading partners.
> >
> > **********************************************************************
> > ASEM BOYCOTT BY ASEAN THREATENED OVER BURMA
> > 3.9.97/THE NATION
> > RITA PATIYASEVI
> >
> > THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has yet to
> > reach a consensus over whether to boycott next year's Asia-Europe
> > Meeting (Asem) following Britain's refusal to allow Burmese
> > officials to enter the country, according to a senior Thai
> > official.
> >
> > The official, who asked not to be named, said that both Burma and
> > Laos have yet to apply for membership in Asem.
> >
> > "Mahathir's judgement was a bit premature," the official said,
> > referring to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who said
> > yesterday that some Asean countries might boycott the second Asem
> > summit because Burma is unable to attend because of visa
> > restrictions on its government officials imposed by the UK.
> > Although Burma was admitted as a full member to Asean in July,
> > the country is not a member of Asem.
> >
> > Western countries objected to Asean's admission of Burma on the
> > grounds of political oppression in the country.
> >
> > Thailand is the coordinator for the Asian side of the summit,
> > while Britain coordinates the European side.
> >
> > "Asem is an intergovernmental conference and not a block-to-block
> > meeting There has been no consensus reached among Asean about new
> > members to Asem," said the official, who monitors Asean-EU
> > relations.
> >
> > Citing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation as a precedent, the
> > official said Vietnam, which joined Asean in 1995, was not
> > automatically accepted into the economic grouping and remains a
> > candidate.
> >
> > The issue of new members was touched upon at the first Asem
> > foreign ministers meeting in Singapore last February that brought
> > together the 15 EU nations and seven members of Asean, plus
> > China, Japan and South Korea, but did not reach an agreement on
> > criteria for membership.
> > **********************************************************************
> > RANGOON THREATENS ACTION ON SANCTIONS
> > 3.9.97/BANGKOK POST
> > AFP
> >
> > Rangoon - Burma plans to take the United States to the World
> > Trade Organisation (WTO) over sanctions imposed by a US state and
> > cities which blacklist companies investing in Burma, a top
> > official said yesterday.
> >
> > Noting that the European Union, backed by Japan, was already
> > taking the United States to the WTO, a State Law and Order
> > Council minister said: "When we have the next WTO meeting, we
> > will take it up also."
> > *********************************************************************