The BurmaNet News: September 30, 19

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 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: September 30, 1998
Issue #1107

Noted in Passing: "The authorities know that the student force in Burma is
strong and the students' political will is firmly on the side of democracy.
 That is why they dare not reopen the universities." - Aung San Suu Kyi
(see BBC: INTERVIEW ... ) 

HEADLINES:
==========
CRPP: NOTIFICATION NO. 2 
BBC: INTERVIEW WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI 
KHRG: INFORMATION UPDATE #98-U3 (DOOPLAYA) 
THE ECONOMIST: COMBUSTIBLE MYANMAR 
ASIAWEEK: BURMA'S TIME TO CHOOSE 
BKK POST: U.S. ENVOY PUTS FAITH IN SANCTIONS 
****************************************************************

COMMITTEE REPRESENTING PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENT: NOTIFICATION NO.2 
28 September, 1998 

Committee Representing the People's Parliament Elected by the 1990
Multiparty Democratic General Elections

Notification No. 2

The Committee Representing the People's Parliament held a meeting on
September 28, 1998 and made the following decisions:

1) The Committee Representing the People's Parliament agreed to recommend
that the Parliament adopt the following laws:
  a. Political Parties Registration Law (State Law and Order Restoration
Council's Law No. 4/88)
  b. Associations Law (State Law and Order Restoration Council's Law No.
6/88)
  c. With the exception of the rulings which do not conform to the
democratic procedural rules, the Pyithu Hluttaw (People's Parliament)
Elections Law (State Law and Order Restoration Council's Law No. 14/89)

2)  The Committee Representing the People's Parliament agreed to recommend
that the Parliament ratify Burma's signing of the Convention on the  Rights
of the Child, which was passed by the United Nations General Assembly on
November 20, 1989.

3)  The Committee Representing the People's Parliament recommended that the
Parliament revoke the following laws:
  a. The 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, including Section 5, the law which
is excessively cited and illegally used to persecute the people,
particularly the politicians.
  b. The Law Protecting the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements
that revolves around Section 10, an article used in illegally persecuting
the people and particularly, the politicians.

4) The Committee Representing the People's Parliament decided to review and
revise, if necessary, the existing laws so that they adequately safeguard
the security and stability of the nation without infringing the basic
rights of the people.

5)  The Committee Representing the People's Parliament decided to present
the following laws to the Parliament so that they can be reviewed and
considered for revision:
  a. The Pyithu Hluttaw (People's Parliament) Law and By-laws,
  b. Laws Regulating Regional Democratic Administration,
  c. The Law Safeguarding the Rights of Citizens,
  d. The Universities Act, and
  e. Sections 8 and 12 of the Village Act concerning the conscription of
people for forced labor purposes.

Committee Representing the People's Parliament
Rangoon
The 8th Rising moon of Thadingyut 1360
September 28, 1998 

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BBC: INTERVIEW WITH DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI
24 September, 1998 by6 Kyaw Zan Tha 

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  Dear listeners.  After the NLD [National League for
Democracy] announced that it will convene a parliament with elected
representatives, political tensions have increased between the military
junta and the opposition in Burma.  As the military junta made more
arrests, the NLD, on the other hand, formed a Committee Representing the
People's Parliament.  The government has continued the arrests [of
opposition members] and according to latest reports those arrested now
numbers more than 900.  Some observers have noted that the military junta
is taking a more lenient stance to avoid embarrassment in front of an
international community because the United Nations General Assembly is in
session.  At this stage, for the listeners to know what will become of the
political situation in Burma, the BBC Burmese section held a telephone
interview this afternoon with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the general secretary
of the NLD.  When BBC asked what the NLD planned to do next, Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi answered as follows:

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  Well, we do not hold discussions to announce our plans
in advance because, as you know, if we let our future plans be known in
advance there are many people who will try to block them.  The authorities
go to all lengths to obstruct our plans.  As for us, we will continue to
strive according to our objectives until success is achieved.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  Some observers are saying that the military junta is
showing some leniency by its mild reaction and not taking severe action
against NLD's plan to convene parliament.  Some say the ball is now in
NLD's court.

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  That is not correct.  If you read their newspapers you
will know how much they are talking [about us]. So, the point that they are
saying nothing is not correct.  Well, if U Kyaw Zan Tha studies enough, you
will know that the authorities are really anxious about our activities and
they are saying all kinds of things.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  With regard to NLD's appeal for support from the Burmese
and the international community, to what extent do you think you will get
support?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  So far, we have received some letters of support but we
are unable to announce them at this time.  We have also prepared some
letters to acknowledge the support.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  May I know whether the support is domestic or foreign.

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  The support is mostly domestic.  We received domestic
support first.  So far we have not heard anything from abroad.
Communication is not that easy.  It is a wonder to even have this telephone
conversation.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  We have heard reports that since the Burmese people are
struggling to make ends meet, they do not have any time and are not
interested in politics any more.  What is your opinion about that?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  That is not correct.  The majority of the Burmese
people are well aware that their economic woes are all related to the
political problems.  But, since the majority of the Burmese people are
being threatened by the authorities they are all living in fear.  To free
them from fear is an ongoing process that we are engaged in.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  It is true that throughout Burmese history until recently
students have been a formidable political force in Burma.  Now, some are
saying that there is no real active student force inside the country
anymore.  What is your opinion?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  If there is no active student force in Burma then why
are the universities closed?  The authorities know that the student force
in Burma is strong and the students' political will is firmly on the side
of democracy.  That is why they dare not reopen the universities.  In
recent days too, we have been hearing about students' activities and
students' protests here and there.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  What are the prospects for democracy in Burma? May we know
whether the light of democracy will be seen soon.

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  We think, according to our efforts, perseverance, and
endeavors, that the democracy goal is not far away.  I am not saying this
just to give hope.  I have repeatedly said that I do not believe in having
hope and doing nothing to achieve it.  I believe that we will be able to
see the light of democracy soon because of the many efforts made and the
sacrifices endured by the NLD members and those democracy-loving forces.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  At the present time, although the NLD has sought support
from the Burmese people, in practical terms it has not received much
support yet.  Don't you think that the Burmese people are finding it
difficult to show their support?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  So far we have issued only one announcement seeking
support.  Please draw your conclusions only after reading other announcements.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  May I ask, as a correspondent, when those announcements
will be issued?

[Aung San Suu Kyi]  Well, I shall reply, as a politician, that those
announcements will be issued when the time comes.

[Kyaw Zan Tha]  Thank you very much Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  

[end recording] 

****************************************************************

KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP: INFORMATION UPDATE #98-U3 (DOOPLAYA) 
24 September, 1998 from <khrg@xxxxxxxxx> 

An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group

[Information Update is periodically produced by KHRG in order to provide
timely reporting of specific developments, particularly when urgent action
may be required.  It is produced primarily for Internet distribution.
Topics covered will generally be reported in more detail in upcoming  KHRG
reports.]

Flight of Dta La Ku Villagers in Dooplaya District

Dooplaya District covers much of the southern half of Karen State, from the
Myawaddy - Kyone Doh - Pa'an motor road in the north to the Three Pagodas
Pass area 160 kilometres (100 miles) further south.  In early 1997 the
SLORC regime mounted a major military operation and successfully occupied
almost all of this area, though the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)
is still very active in guerrilla operations.  While the SLORC/SPDC has
gradually increased its repression to establish control over the area, they
have also formed and employed a Karen proxy army called the Karen Peace
Army (KPA) under Thu Mu Heh, a former KNLA officer who defected in 1997.
The SPDC removed the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) from most of the
region and made a show of giving 'authority' over the area to the KPA.

The KPA set out to gather recruits by promising villagers that the families
of those who joined would be exempted from forced labour for the SPDC, and
by trying to force all able-bodied men of the Dta La Ku people to join.

The Dta La Ku are a religious minority among the Karen, numbering some
5,000 people, who live mainly in southern Dooplaya District.  They have
been persecuted and pressured to join the struggle by both the SLORC/SPDC
and the KNLA, even though taking part in an armed struggle or supporting
one goes directly against their strict religion and lifestyle.

All of the above developments have been documented in previous KHRG reports
- see "Strengthening the Grip on Dooplaya" (KHRG #98-05, 10/6/98),
"Clampdown in Southern Dooplaya" (KHRG #97-11, 18/11/97), and "Refugees
from the SLORC Occupation" (KHRG #97- 07, 25/5/97).  At the time of
publication of the last KHRG report, most of the Dta La Ku refugees in
Thailand had returned to their villages in Burma, but they were under
increasing pressure to join the KPA and they had sent a delegation to
request SPDC military authorities for permission to gather and live
together in one small area near the Thai border, where they would be free
of forced labour and KPA pressure and in return would not take any part in
the struggle.  Since that time, the local SPDC Strategic Commander granted
them the permission they desired.  About 2,000 Dta La Ku villagers gathered
in the Kwih Lat Der / Taung Ka Lay area near the Thai border hoping to be
able to farm and practice their beliefs freely without forced labour and
military pressure.

Now the KPA is no longer demanding that all Dta La Ku men join the army.
However, over the past two months the SPDC military has reneged on its
promise and has begun placing ever-increasing demands on the Dta La Ku
villagers to provide porters and other forced labourers.  Most of the
forced labour demands are being made by troops from Light Infantry Division
#44, particularly Light Infantry Battalion #343.  The latest demand is that
Kwih Lat Der and some other villages each provide 4 porters at all times,
rotating the people every 5 days, or pay 80,000 Kyats per month.  80,000
Kyats is a huge sum of money for rural villagers.  Even Kwih Lat Der, a
large village which now has 150 households, could only come up with 40,000
Kyats the first month, so they negotiated a deal whereby they have to send
2 of the 4 people demanded and pay 40,000 Kyats.  SPDC patrols coming
through Kwih Lat Der area also demand additional porters every day and
charge 100 Thai Baht per day as a fine for anyone who cannot go.

Further into SPDC territory and away from the border with Thailand, the 40
Dta La Ku families of Meh T'La village are being forced to provide 2
porters at all times on a 5-day rotation to carry rice and ammunition to
Kyaikdon for the SPDC, and 100 people at a time also have to do forced
labour building a security fence along the local motor road.  Villagers are
not allowed to go to their fields to tend their crops without a pass, and
cannot stay in their field huts for more than 2 consecutive nights.  Last
month a 20-year-old man named Maw Lu Po from the village was executed by
SPDC troops for being caught in possession of medicine.  He was bringing
injection sets for the villagers, who have no doctor, but the troops
accused him of possessing medicine to give to KNLA units.  The village was
also forced to move to another site by the SPDC, but was then ordered by
the local KNLA unit to move back or be shelled with mortars. The villagers
don't dare go back against SPDC orders, and many see no option but to flee.
 At the same time villagers, including Dta La Ku, in Kru Tu Kee have been
forced to provide 100 baskets of seed paddy, plant a crop and tend it for
SPDC troops in the area.  Dta La Ku villagers from Ywa Thay village claim
that they have also been facing an increase of forced labour as porters for
the SPDC, the KPA and remnants of DKBA, as well as forced labour building
and maintaining an SPDC camp, pathways, and planting and tending a rice
crop for the local SPDC Battalions.  One village elder from this area
stated that they could survive under the SPDC for the first year of the
occupation, but by the end of the second year "everything is gone" because
of all their demands for food and forced labour.

Dta La Ku villagers from Kwih Kler village in central Dooplaya report that
they are also being used as SPDC porters and that the only way to escape
this work is to pay money, but they have no money left.  In the months
before rainy season (up to June 1998) they were also forced to cut down
many of their coconut trees to clear a path for a new road route.
Construction on this road (probably a more direct route to replace the
existing Azin - Kwih Kler - Lay Po Hta road) has not yet begun, but will
probably begin with heavy use of forced labour after the end of rainy
season in October or November.  SPDC officers have ordered all Dta La Ku
villagers who have already left Kwih Kler to return or have their homes and
fields confiscated by the Army, but some of those who have left say they
won't go back anyway because they can no longer take the burden of forced
labour.

In the Kwih Lat Der area, village elders have approached local SPDC
military commanders, asking for the release of porters and protesting that
portering and soldiering go directly against Dta La Ku religious beliefs.
In response, they were scolded by the SPDC officer for "being too much
bother", and since that time the officer has sent out word through all his
troops that if the Dta La Ku are not willing to support the Army with their
labour then they are to be driven out of Burma.

As a result of the increasing pressure for forced labour, over 900 Dta La
Ku have crossed the border to become refugees in Thailand, and elders from
Dta La Ku villages in Dooplaya District claim that close to 2,000 more are
preparing to cross the border any time between now and the rice harvest in
two to three months.  The over 900 refugees already in Thailand are staying
around the Thai Dta La Ku village of Lay Taw Ko.  The Dta La Ku refugees
are not willing to go to the existing Karen refugee camp at Noh Po, because
they fear that among the 10,000 refugees already at Noh Po they would have
no chance to maintain their religion and lifestyle. Furthermore, Thai
officials have told them not to go to Noh Po because Noh Po is a strictly
closed camp and the Thai officials fear that the Dta La Ku would always be
slipping in and out in order to attend religious events at their religious
centres.  Should another 1,000-2,000 Dta La Ku refugees arrive in Thailand,
how they will be received remains uncertain.

The Situation for Other Karen Villagers

Among non-Dta La Ku people in the central parts of Dooplaya, the situation
remains similar to what it was several months ago.  People in villages
where SPDC units are garrisoned have to do regular shifts of forced labour
portering, maintaining Army camps and maintaining roads. They are not
allowed to leave their village without a pass.  In some areas, the pass
requires them to return before sunset even if their fields are a long
distance away, while in other villages they can get a pass allowing them to
spend one or two nights in their field hut.  Even with a pass they face the
possibility of being shot on sight by SPDC patrols, and it is difficult to
tend a crop and protect it from animals while only being allowed to stay in
the field hut for one or two nights at a time.

All of the former village schools which were operated by the villagers
themselves or by the Karen National Union (KNU) have been forced to close
down under the SPDC occupation.  The SPDC has only set up a few schools in
major villages such as Azin and Kyaikdon, but few children outside these
villages have access to these schools, particularly young children.  As a
result, most children in Dooplaya are no longer able to go to school.
Medical clinics formerly supported by various organisations and the KNU
have also closed, and very little medical help is available. Even in the
central village of Azin there is no clinic; villagers there can go to an
Army doctor who speaks Karen, but they must pay.  Most villagers now in
Dooplaya have little choice but to risk a trek to Thailand if they want to
obtain medicines.

At least several hundred families remain internally displaced in central
Dooplaya, not daring to go back to their villages but afraid to run to
Thailand.  Some of these families already fled to Thailand once but were
shot at and terrorised by Thai troops at Thay Pu Law Htwee in November 1997
(see "Strengthening the Grip on Dooplaya", KHRG #98-05, 10/6/98, for
further details).  The SPDC regularly issues orders for these people to
return to their villages, but they dare not for fear of arrest. They stay
in small groups of shelters in the forest, fleeing from one shelter to
another every month or two when an SPDC patrol comes near their shelters.
Each family has 4 or 5 shelters and 2 or 3 small ricefields, scattered in
different places so that they can keep ahead of SPDC patrols.  Many of
these people have already died of disease, particularly children and the
elderly.

In January 1998, many Karen villages in the far south of Dooplaya were
forced by SPDC Infantry Battalion #230 to relocate to Thanbyuzayat and
Three Pagodas Pass.  Meh K'Naw, Meh K'Wa, Htee Kay, Htee Klih Thu, Lay May,
Htee Po Yu, Ah Pa Lone, Lay Po, Hsing Pyay, Kwih Prer Htee, Maw Po and
other villages were given 3 days to move, after which several houses in
each village were burned and Meh K'Naw and Htee Maw Keh villages were
burned completely.  Suffering from lack of food at the relocation site, the
villagers finally managed to get permission to return to their villages,
but they now have to pay extortion money regularly to IB 230 and go on
rotating shifts of 3 days' portering labour.  Anyone who cannot go must pay
1,000 Kyats.

The KPA and the DKBA

It appears that the Karen Peace Army (KPA) has been largely unsuccessful in
its recruitment drive, and its membership still numbers no more than about
200.  Very few villagers joined under the promise of exempting their
families from forced labour, so in many villages the KPA simply demanded 2
or 3 recruits.  However, many of those who initially joined the KPA have
since run away, according to villagers from Dooplaya.  The KPA is now less
prevalent along some parts of the border with Thailand, and it seems the
SPDC has withdrawn them from certain areas.  Some SPDC units still have two
or three of them attached to the unit to do errands, but the KPA has been
marginalised as an effective force.  For the most part they stay at their
base at Klih, 10-15 kilometres north of Kyaikdon.

At the same time the SPDC has brought at least one group of DKBA soldiers
back into central Dooplaya.  Sources in the area report that a group of 38
DKBA soldiers has been moved in to Tha Der Ko, near Kwih Kalay.  They are
building a pagoda there, and visitors to the area claim that they are using
the forced labour of local villagers, both Buddhist and Christian.  It is
unknown as yet whether other groups of DKBA have been brought back into
other places in central Dooplaya, though a village elder from southwestern
Dooplaya says there are now DKBA in his area as well. Tha Der Ko is only
about 5 kilometres south of the KPA headquarters at Klih, making it very
possible that there could be a confrontation between the two groups.  One
KPA officer has told Dta La Ku villagers further south that Dooplaya
belongs to the KPA, and that the DKBA can only be allowed there to do
religious work, nothing political or military.  It is possible that this is
the explanation which the SPDC has given to the KPA, and this would explain
why the DKBA are building a pagoda.  However, it appears strange for the
SPDC to bring the DKBA back to an area from which they were previously
ejected just to build a pagoda.  The SPDC may be planning to marginalise
the KPA further and reinstall the DKBA gradually in the region, or it may
be planning to set up a fight between the two.  It is well known that the
two groups see each other as potential enemies.  If there is an open fight
the KPA would stand little or no chance, unless the SPDC took their side
and used this as a method to severely weaken the DKBA.  The SPDC continues
to distrust the DKBA, while the KPA tends to be a much more loyal proxy
army.  At this point it is still impossible to predict the effect of any
potential reintroduction of the DKBA into central Dooplaya, but it is a
situation which calls for close observation.

Further details and interviews with refugees and internally displaced
villagers in Dooplaya District will be presented in an upcoming KHRG report.

****************************************************************

THE ECONOMIST: COMBUSTIBLE MYANMAR 
26 September, 1998 

BANGKOK

FOR a regime contemptuous of foreign views, Myanmar's ruling junta is
surprisingly beholden to an international calendar. The UN's General
Assembly, for example, which opened on September 21St, is a big annual
event. Usually, the assembly passes a resolution critical of the junta. To
avoid making the censure worse, the generals restrain themselves. This may
explain their surprisingly reticent reaction to the latest affront from
their leading opponent, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her National League for
Democracy (NLD).

On September 16th, Miss Suu Kyi and her colleagues announced that they had
formed a committee to represent the parliament elected in 1990, but never
allowed to meet, because the NLD had won over 80% of the seats. This was
the party's fulfillment of a pledge to convene parliament if there were no
progress towards a negotiated settlement by August 21st. Doing anything
more was hard. By this week nearly goo NLD members -- including most of the
NLD's surviving members of parliament still in the country -- were in
detention.

The junta's mouthpieces had threatened to outlaw the NLD if it went ahead
with its plan. Columnists had also called for Miss Suu Kyi (who, as they
often remind their readers, is married to a Briton), to be deported and for
her closest lieutenant, Tin Oo, to be arrested. But, in the event,
government spokesmen preferred to play down the latest crime, contenting
themselves with scoffing at the committee's effrontery, and reassuring the
world that soldiers would not be distracted from the serious business of
government.

Certainly, the junta could do without further foreign criticism. Its
stubborn refusal to talk to Miss Suu Kyi is earning it resentment even from
its neighbours, who had hoped that admitting Myanmar to their regional
club, the Association of South-East Asian Nations, last year, might
encourage better behaviour. And a report last month from the international
Labour Organisation, a UN body, concluded that, despite the junta's
frequent denials, the use of forced labour in the country is "widespread
and systematic", and implemented with "a total disregard for the human
dignity, safety and health and basic needs of the people".

But the generals have troubles enough at home. Fierce repression has
enforced an uneasy calm after student demonstrations in August, despite
occasional small-scale protests. In the tea shops, the word of choice for
the present mood is "explosive". Even more worryingly, all may not be well
in the army. At the Thai border, defectors tell of unhappiness in the ranks
over pay and even food; this year many army units became responsible for
growing their own rice.

There are also reports that several senior officers have been arrested,
after responding to an appeal by Miss Suu Kyi broadcast by foreign radio
stations. It reminded them that the army belongs to the people, not the
other way around. The last time the people of Myanmar tried to shake off
military rule -- ten years ago --thousands of people were slaughtered. The
junta's biggest worry may not be the text of a UN resolution, but whether,
next time, its soldiers would shoot to kill.

****************************************************************

ASIAWEEK: BURMA'S TIME TO CHOOSE 
2 October, 1998 by Aung Naing Oo 

Ten years ago the Burmese military opened fire on me and fellow unarmed
students as we marched in Rangoon crying for human rights and democracy.
Although no real progress has been made toward those goals, the pressure
for democratization has reached a crest again today. A major trigger of the
1988 uprising was a steep decline in the living standards of ordinary
people. Over the last decade economic mismanagement has increased
destitution and suffering even more. Now, in addition to the U.S. sanctions
and the pullout of businesses under pressure from human rights groups, the
Asian economic crisis has been the final nail in the coffin of the junta's
plan for development.

The kyat's value is 2% of its official exchange rate, foreign reserves are
reportedly down to one month of imports, a number of major infrastructure
projects have been discontinued, and, in an unprecedented move, the army
has been forced to reduce basic food supplies to many units. The World
Bank's announcement recently that it would be cutting all financial ties
with Burma because the administration has been unable to service its debts
for the last six months, indicates that the economy has contracted a
terminal illness.

Two developments outside Burma have given us heart. One was the downfall of
President Suharto. For the generals who run Burma, Suharto was an
inspiration. Since 1993 their main strategy to hold onto power has been
based on the Indonesian model of dwifungsi, where the military has a role
in governing the country. The junta received an unpleasant surprise at the
recent ASEAN ministerial meeting with the proposal by Thailand, backed by
the Philippines, to drop the grouping's policy of non-interference in favor
of "flexible engagement." This was not endorsed, but pressure for dialogue
coming from so close to home is a new and significant development.

For the past 10 years, the major opposition groups comprising students,
monks and workers have been attempting to organize underground movements
inside the country. Many believe that the only hope for return to civilian
rule would be another massive show of people power. The student
demonstrations that have taken place since August 24 may well herald the
start of this. The principal fuel for the flames, however, comes from Aung
San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Her recent
change in tactics -- giving an ultimatum to the government to convene the
parliament and when this was ignored announcing that the NLD will convene a
people's parliament -- has brought tension to a new peak.

The NLD has repeatedly called for political dialogue. The generals have
refused, maintaining that a dialogue is already being held at the National
Convention: a farcical gathering at which delegates are allowed to read
only pre-censored papers. One delegate, Dr. Aung Khin Sint, was even
sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for attempting to lobby other delegates.
Even before the convention began, the main principle laid down established
"the military in the leading role of national politics in the future
state." Despite its election landslide in 1990, the NLD was given only 93
out of the 702 seats in the convention. Some time ago, after failing to
change convention procedures, the NLD walked out in protest.

On several occasions the military authorities have actually met with the
NLD. However, Suu Kyi was permitted at only two of these talks, both while
she was under house arrest in 1994. At recent meetings, which the military
rulers have referred to as dialogue, they spent the whole session berating
NLD officials for their party's activities. The generals called on the NLD
to meet with them on August 8, refusing, however, to meet the party's top
three leaders. Understandably, the NLD turned down this offer.

Dialogue that brings together only the junta and the NLD, however
meaningful, will never be sufficient to solve Burma's problems. The ethnic
opposition must be included in any future settlement. Ethnic conflict has
been one of Burma's longest-running and deepest-rooted problems. Minority
groups make up a huge percentage of the population, and a stable,
democratic Burma cannot exist without the inclusion of their aspirations.

The Army's refusal to talk to NLD leaders shows that it still has no
intention of discussing the real issues. In fact indications are that the
military intends to hang on till the bitter end. Troops have been brought
in from provincial areas, special riot units have been organized, and there
have been blanket arrests of opposition members, and deployment of security
forces around NLD offices. It has even been reported that a special cell in
Insein Prison has been prepared for Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi remains defiant, and the opposition is ready to bring the struggle
to a new level. Their patience is running out, and optimism, while not
high, is higher than it has been since the 1990 election. The tension is
almost palpable and the cards seem set for an explosion; a scenario which
would be favorable for neither party. In the words of Aung San Suu Kyi,
Burma has to choose between dialogue or utter devastation.

(Aung Naing Oo is Foreign Affairs Secretary of the All Burma Students
Democratic Front.)

****************************************************************

THE BANGKOK POST: U.S. ENVOY PUTS FAITH IN SANCTIONS 
29 September, 1998 

REUTERS

A US envoy said yesterday maintaining sanctions on Burma was an important
matter of principle even if it' took time to bring results.

The US imposed unilateral sanctions on Burma in May 1997, including a ban
on American investment in that country. Canada also has formal sanctions in
place and, while few other countries have followed, several have restricted
trade.

"I think that the sanctions on Burma have demonstrated that there is a very
strong committed view among the international community for Burma to
respect the rights of its own  people and the democratic principals that
are very precious to the rest of us," visiting US Assistant Secretary of
State for Economic and Business Affairs, Alan Larson, told a news
conference in Bangkok.

"I think that a policy of principle, our policy on Burma sometimes is a
policy that takes time to bear fruit, but that is not a reason not to
pursue a policy," he said.

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