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NEWS - EU Delegation Meets Myanmar



Subject: NEWS - EU Delegation Meets Myanmar Democracy Leaders

EU Delegation Meets Myanmar Democracy Leaders

               Reuters
               07-JUL-99

               YANGON, July 7 (Reuters) - A European Union delegation
               met Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on
               Wednesday as part of a mission to promote human rights
               and a dialogue between the opposition and the ruling
               military. 

               The mid-ranking delegation, which met the powerful
military
               intelligence chief on Tuesday night, also met the leader
of an
               opposition ethnic political group, Khun Tun Oo of the
Shan
               Nationalities League for Democracy, diplomats and local
               political sources said. 

               They said the delegation met 1991 Nobel Peace laureate
               Suu Kyi at the residence of the British ambassador. 

               No details have emerged on the content of the talks. 

               Myanmar's tightly controlled state media has not
mentioned
               the visit and diplomats from the European Union, which
has
               sharply criticised the military for its human rights
record and
               failure to democratise, have remained tightlipped. 

               On Tuesday, the delegation met intelligence chief
               Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, regarded as the most
               powerful figure in the ruling military council. 

               Tauno Kaaria, Finland's ambassador to Thailand and
               Myanmar, told Reuters in Bangkok on Tuesday its main
               purpose was to revive dialogue with the Myanmar
               government in order to promote better human rights. 

               He said it hoped at the same time to encourage a dialogue
               between the military and opposition, who blame each other
               for a lack of contact. 

               Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won Myanmar's
               last general election in 1990 by a landslide but the
military
               ignored the result. 

               The military's subsequent harassment of the opposition,
               including the arrest and detention of hundreds of its
               members, led the European Union to bar senior government
               officials from its borders. 

               This has created problems for Europe's relations with the
               Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which Myanmar
               joined in 1997. Earlier this year, it forced cancellation
of a
               meeting in Germany of the foreign ministers of the two
blocs
               supposed to take place every two years. 

               The EU mission comprises a representative of Finland, the
               current holder of the EU presidency; Portugal, which will
               hold the next presidency; the European Commission, and
the
               secretariat of the European Council of Ministers.