Reuters-Myanmar Interpol drug meeti

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Subject: Reuters-Myanmar Interpol drug meeting hits at US, Europe

Myanmar Interpol drug meeting hits at US, Europe
04:48 a.m. Feb 23, 1999 Eastern
By Rajan Moses

YANGON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The United States and most European nations came
in for heavy criticism at a controversial Interpol conference on heroin in
Yangon on Tuesday for refusing to attend because of the venue.

The director of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence Directorate, Paul Higdon,
and Myanmar Home Affairs Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing laid on the criticism
at the opening of the four-day meeting.

Washington and the Europeans had declined to attend the meeting in Yangon,
capital of a country that is one of the world's leading producers of heroin,
saying they feared Myanmar would use the event to give a false impression of
its drug suppression efforts.

Some of the absentees had also linked their refusal to attend to Myanmar's
poor human rights and political record.

Myanmar's military rulers curb the activities of a vibrant opposition, led
by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and hold many political prisoners.

``I for one... regret that a political situation which is viewed by many as
a serious problem has held hostage the universally recognised problem of
drug abuse,'' said Higdon.

``I also regret their (U.S. and most European) non-participation... because
I feel there is more to gain through dialogue than through boycott,'' he
added.

By hosting the four-day conference to some 65 delegates from 28 countries,
Myanmar was showing that it was ready to be challenged, he said.

``I might add that as one of the major heroin producing countries in the
world...They should be challenged,'' Higdon said.

Among countries attending the conference are Australia, Austria, China,
Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand and agencies such as
the United Nations International Drug Control Programme.

The closed-door meeting will among other things examine heroin production
and trafficking routes in Asia and elsewhere, as well as the heroin markets
in the United States and Europe.

Myanmar's opponents have accused it of links to the drug trade and pointed
to its protection of well-known heroin traffickers such as Khun Sa and Lo
Hsing-han.


Myanmar's northeastern Shan State forms part of the infamous Golden Triangle
poppy growing area where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. The
state is one of the world's main sources of heroin.

Home Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing told the conference it was unfortunate the
United States, Britain and many other European nations had chosen to boycott
the conference.

``As two of the largest markets for heroin in the world, the United States
and Britain bear a special responsibility to work with the rest of the
international community in every way possible,'' he said.

``Their huge markets fuel a global narcotics trade which threatens to affect
many countries in the developing world, including Myanmar,'' he added.

He said Myanmar's drug problem was a legacy of its colonial past, and was
linked with insurgency movements.

Myanmar was determined to eliminate totally poppy growing in the country in
15 years time. But international assistance was required to achieve this,
Tin Hlaing said.