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NEWS-U.S. Sen. Kerry Visits Myanmar



U.S. Sen. Kerry Visits Myanmar

 .c The Associated Press

 YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - U.S. Sen. John Kerry met opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi during a brief visit to Myanmar, a U.S. embassy spokesman
said Wednesday.

Kerry, who arrived in Yangon on Monday evening, also met a top leader of
the country's ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, and representatives of
some international nongovernment organizations, said the spokesman,
speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

The Massachusetts senator is the ranking Democratic member of the East
Asian and Pacific Affairs subcommittee of the Senate foreign relations
committee.

State-run newspapers on Wednesday reported Kerry's meeting with Khin
Nyunt on their front pages. They said Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung
and Acting U.S. Charge d'Affaires Priscilla Clapp were also present.

Kerry departed Yangon on Tuesday evening after his luncheon meeting with
1991 Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi, who heads the National League for
Democracy. Her party suffers heavy repression by the government.

The league swept general elections in 1990, but the military, in power
since 1962, ignored the vote. Suu Kyi was freed in 1995 after six years
under house arrest. Her political activities and movements are still
heavily restricted.

Washington has poor relations with Myanmar - also called Burma - because
of the government's poor human rights record and failure to hand over
power to a democratically-elected government.

To show its disapproval, the United States has imposed both economic and
political sanctions against Myanmar.

The military government, in a tit-for-tat gesture, restricts visas to
U.S. officials and denounces U.S. policy toward Myanmar as arrogant and
counterproductive.

AP-NY-12-08-99 0802EDT