NEWS - Myanmar exiles urge junta t

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Subject: NEWS -  Myanmar exiles urge junta to begin political dialogue

Myanmar exiles urge junta to begin political dialogue
   
   BANGKOK, Aung 26 (AFP) - Exiled leaders of Myanmar's pro-democracy
movement 
Thursday urged the ruling military to start dialogue with opposition
forces 
led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
   In a letter sent to junta chief General Than Shwe, the National
Council of 
the Union of Burma (NCUB) warned the junta not to use force to quash any 
turmoil.
   The letter, obtained by AFP, comes ahead of a planned uprising in
Myanmar 
by dissidents next month.
   "There are currently indications that a general uprising may occur in
Burma 
due to widespread discontent," it said, refering to the country by its
former 
name.
   The letter, penned by NCUB president General Bo Mya, who is also
chief of 
the ethnic rebel Karen National Union (KNU) said the only way for the
junta, 
known as the State peace and Development Council (SPDC), to avoid mass
unrest 
was through political means.
   The KNU is the main ethnic insurgency which has not yet signed a
ceasefire 
agreement with the junta and operates near the border with Thailand.
   "I strongly ask that those three forces in Burmese politics that are 
willing to work for the development of the country -- the NLD, the SPDC
and 
ethnic groups -- should initiate a genuine dialogue immediately," Bo Mya
said.
   The National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won
1990 
elections in Myanmar, but has been denied power by the military. 
   Dissidents insied and outside Myanmar are campaigning for a mass
uprising 
on September 9 -- or 9/9/99. The symbolic date has led it to be known as
the 
"Four Nines Movement."
   August 8 this year marked the 11th anniversary of an earlier
uprising, 
known as 8/8/88, in which hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators were
gunned 
down and a junta took power from strongman General Ne Win.
   That anniversary passed peacefully, but exile groups have said
Myanmar's 
people have an "appointment" with September 9 to repeat the events of
1988 and 
end the military's 37-year rule.
   Aung San Suu Kyi has warned that the military is using the "Four
Nines 
Movement" as a pretext to tighten its grip.
   "I think they are using it as an excuse for cracking down," she said
in an 
interview with AFP earlier this week.
   The junta said recently that it had arrested 37 people, including NLD 
members, in connection with the planned unrest. Exiled dissidents claim
the 
figure is close to 150 people.
   smo-de/agr/