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SCMP: EU envoys meet Aung San Suu K



Subject: SCMP: EU envoys meet Aung San Suu Kyi on dialogue-boosting trip 

South China Morning Post

Thursday, July 8, 1999 

EU envoys meet Aung San Suu Kyi on dialogue-boosting trip 

AGENCIES in Rangoon 
EU envoys met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday on the second 
day of a mission aimed at nurturing a human rights dialogue with the ruling 
junta. 
But a European Union envoy said that while promoting dialogue between the 
junta and the opposition was important, the mission's focus was on reviving 
ties between Rangoon and Brussels. 
The EU team, led by Santi Fedorow of Finland, met Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and 
other National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders, as well as 
representatives of the country's ethnic minorities. 
"The envoys inquired mainly about the prevailing conditions, the ongoing 
National Convention [drafting a new constitution], the human rights 
situation and affairs of the ethnic nationalities," said one minority 
leader. 
The EU mission met powerful intelligence chief and junta first secretary 
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt and Foreign Minister Win Aung on Tuesday. 
The mission is deliberately being kept low-key after reports last year set 
back a World Bank initiative to exchange financial aid for political 
reform. 
Finnish ambassador to Thailand Tauno Kaaria said on Tuesday the EU envoys 
would try to re-establish a dialogue between the EU and the junta. 
The mission would also suggest talks between the ruling State Peace and 
Development Council (SPDC) and the NLD, which won 1990 elections by a 
landslide but has been barred from forming a government, Mr Kaaria said. 
"Of course we would like to encourage [such] talks, but the main goal of 
this mission is to establish a dialogue between the SPDC and the EU . . . 
that definitely would be a step forward," he said. 
The EU imposed sanctions against Burma in 1996. Dialogue has been frozen 
since. The junta's human rights record has also strained the EU's ties with 
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 
Mr Kaaria said "human rights and democracy" were essential topics of 
discussion in any future dialogue between the EU and the junta. 
"It's obvious that things have to be resolved within the country and 
dialogue between the main parties would be necessary," he said. 
Another European diplomat in Bangkok said: "We want to continue the human 
rights dialogue on a higher level than the embassies." 
Burma's junta is repeatedly accused of perpetrating abuses including forced 
labour and rape. 
The junta had evicted villagers from their land and used them as forced 
labour to build a road in Mandalay, the NLD said yesterday. 




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