Myanmar general to visit Philippine

[brelief@xxxxxxx]

Asahi Evening News
January 29, 1998

Myanmar general to visit Philippines

The Associated Press

Manila -- Myanmar's (Burma's) senior leader will make a two-day state visit
to the Philippines next month, the first by a leader of the military-run
country since it joined a regional grouping last year, the government said
Wednesday.

Gen. Than Shwe, chairman of Burma's State, Peace and Development Council,
will visit the Philippines Feb. 17-19 and meet President Fidel Ramos, the
government said in a statement.

An agreement on a Philippine offer to provide scholarships to 60 Burmese
nationals will be signed during the visit, said the statement released by
the presidential office.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) admitted Burma to its
ranks in July, ignoring the disapproval of the United States and Europe,
which said democratic reforms in Burma should come first.

The military has ruled Burma since 1962.  Its leaders have come under attack
for human rights abuses and suppression of the political opposition led by
Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Southeast Asian leaders have said they believe the best way of reforming the
Burmese government is through dialogue and economic exchange.

Ramos visited Burma for three days last year, becoming the first ASEAN head
of state to visit the country since its admission into the regional group.

After Ramos left, two members of his traveling party, Foreign Secretary
Domingo Siazon and Senator Alberto Romulo, met with Suu Kyi.

The two were the highest ranking officials from ASEAN in recent years to
meet the opposition leader, whose movements are closely guarded by the military.

 
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