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THE NATION:US BURMA POLICY




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March 11, 1994
The Nation (Bangkok)

US [BURMA] POLICY FOCUSED ON RIGHTS
"No Backing for Asean Invitation"

Reuters

US policy on Burma, under review on the orders of Pres. Bill
Clinton, will remain firmly focused on the "brutal and tragic
suppression of human rights and democracy", a US official said
yesterday.

John Shattuck, assistant secretary of state for human rights and
humanitarian affairs, said it was not the US position to support a
proposal by the six-member Association of South East Asian Nations
(Asean) to invite Burma to attend an Asean ministerial meeting in
Bangkok in July.

"The Burma policy goals are going to remain very clearly the same. 
The policy goals are going to be addressing the brutal and tragic
suppression of democracy and human rights in Burma," Shattuck told
reporters.

"The means of achieving those goals are being looked at very
closely but we will pursue those goals are aggressively and in
every possible way we can." he said.

Senior officials of Asean yesterday announced that the group had
agreed to invite Burma to attend an Asean ministerial meeting in
July as a guest of host Thailand.

Asean, which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand follows a policy of "constructive
engagement" with the regime in Rangoon.

"The United States is concerned to assure that all steps that are
taken with respect to relationships between Burma and  the other
countries have the promotion of human rights very much in mind,"
Shattuck said.

"That's the way we would approach the issue od the Asean meeting as
well," he said.

"It certainly was not our decision or our position with respect to
Burma but that's the position of the Asean group itself."

Shattuck arrived in Bangkok on Sunday for talks with Thai
government leaders and activists about democracy and human rights
in both Burma and Thailand.

His talks on Burma included the plight of the detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners as well sa
the situation regarding Burmese refugees in Thailand, he said.