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SECTION: International News 

LENGTH: 332 words 

HEADLINE: Myanmar veterans call for dialogue 

DATELINE: Yangon 

BODY: 


Veterans from Myanmar's (Burma's) independence struggle called on Tuesday for the country's military junta and the leading
opposition party to initiate a dialogue to end the country's political deadlock. 

"We old veterans place great hope on a dialogue between the State Peace and Development Council and the National League for
Democracy, discarding personal grudges in ushering in the auspicious new millennium," said Bo Hmu Aung, leader of the
23-Veteran Politicians Group. 

Bo Hmu Aung is one of the four remaining founding members of the "30 Comrades", who led Myanmar's resistance movement
against the Japanese during World War II and later the struggle for independence from Britain, which was finally achieved in 1948. 

Of the original "30 Comrades" only General Ne Win, Myanmar's former military strongman who ruled the country between
1962-88, Bo Ye Htut, Bo Kyaw Zaw, who is believed to be living in Beijing, and Bo Hmu Aung are still alive. 

The comrades were originally led by General Aung San, who was assassinated in 1948, and whose daughter Aung San Suu Kyi
now heads the NLD opposition party that won Myanmar's 1990 general election by a landslide. 

Despite its electoral win, Myanmar's military junta has denied the NLD power for the past 10 years, and has thus far refused to
discuss sharing power with them, leading to a political deadlock that has undermined Myanmar's economic development and social
services. 

"Political disharmony has developed into general crisis proportions," said Bo Hmu Aung, who set up his octogenarian political club
with 23 members about a decade ago. 

He added, "Building national solidarity by means of national reconciliation is the only breakthrough to address the national moral
deterioration and economic hindrances." 

Myanmar's junta has claimed they might initiate a dialogue with the NLD if Nobel laureate Suu Kyi was excluded from the talks, a
precondition which the opposition does not accept. dpa aso pj wp 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH 

LOAD-DATE: January 4, 2000