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THE NATION: (r)
Politics
Sukhumbhand to visit
Burma
DEPUTY Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand
Paribatra will visit Burma to mark the 50th
anniversary of Thai-Burmese diplomatic
relations on Aug 24.
Informed sources said minister is
scheduled to meet Burmese officials during
his three-day official visit starting on Aug
23.
He will be the first foreign government
official to visit Burma after the ruling military
junta suspended the five-year sentence the
18 foreign activists including three Thais
had been given for handing out
pro-democracy leaflets in Rangoon last
week.
His visit will come just as tension builds up
as the country approaches the Friday
deadline opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi had set for convening the parliament
whose members had legitimately won the
1990 general elections.
Even though Sukhumbhand has been a
critic of the Burmese junta he stood against
last week's campaign held by the 18
activists.
Sukhumbhand helped craft a Thai proposal
for flexible engagement with Burma which
drew a serious debate at Asean ministerial
meeting last month and finally sailed
through in a less controversial version of
''enhanced interaction''.
Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Chettha
Thanajaro meanwhile warned Thai activists
to think before they attempt to enter Burma
and campaign for democracy again.
''It should be evident if such a move is right
or appropriate. If they think it's right, then
there is no problem with that,'' Gen Chettha
said.
Chettha earlier had reproached the three
Thai activists for the joining campaign in
Rangoon. He said Thais deserved legal
action if they had offended the law of the
country they were in.
The Nation