AFP-Japan welcomes Myanmar's move t

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Japan welcomes Myanmar's move toward dialogue
Wed 19 Aug 98 - 12:23 GMT 

TOKYO, Aug 19 (AFP) - Japan on Wednesday welcomed the first direct talks
this year between Myanmar's junta and main opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD).

Foreign ministry press secretary Sadaaki Numata expressed hope that the
meeting on Tuesday between NLD chairman Aung Shwe and junta intelligence
chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt would break the political impasse in
Myanmar.

"Japan strongly hopes that this meeting will become the first step along
the road to significant dialogue between the Government of Myanmar and the
NLD including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," Numata said in a statement.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, began the second
week of a standoff with military rulers on a bridge in Yangon since she was
blocked from travelling to meet provincial supporters.

"Japan is greatly concerned that Daw (honorific) Aung San Suu Kyi and other
members of the NLD are still restricted in their political activities, and
strongly hopes that dialogue between the Government of Myanmar and the NLD
will bring about substantive progress in the situation," the statement
said.

The NLD had declined previous invitations for talks, mostly recently on
August 7, as they excluded party secretary general Aung San Suu Kyi and
other key members.

The invitation had been addressed to Aung Shwe but specifically excluded
Aung San Suu Kyi and co-vice chairman Tin Oo.

Japan, formerly the biggest aid donor to Myanmar, joined western nations in
freezing official lending to Yangon in 1988 after a military crackdown on
the pro-democracy movement there.

But Tokyo is reportedly considering restarting official aid loans to
Myanmar, for humanitarian projects, in what is called a dual approach of
lobbying the Myanmar regime to improve its human rights record and helping
boost living conditions of people.