Exile groups say Burmese junta

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: Exile groups say Burmese junta not to be trusted   


    BANGKOK, March 12 (Reuter) - Two Burmese opposition groups in exile said
on Sunday the junta's crackdown on the ethnic minority Karen proved it could
not be trusted, and urged the international community to boycott Rangoon. 

    The All Burma Students' Democratic Front and Democratic Party for New
Society issued statements to mark the seventh anniversary on March 13 of the
start of a student uprising against military dictatorship. 

    On that day in 1988, troops fired on a crowd of protesters in Rangoon,
killing 23-year-old Ko Phone Maw. 

    The students said the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) had
broken its own ceasefire by attacking jungle bases of the Karen National
Union (KNU) on the Burmese-Thai border this year. 

    ``The SLORC cannot be trusted, should not be recognised as the de jure
government and should be strongly denounced,'' the students said in a
statement. 

    The SLORC seized power with military backing in September 1988 after
suppressing a nationwide pro-democracy uprising with the loss of thousands of
lives. 

    The European Union and the United States have expressed concern about the
army campaign against the Karen and have renewed calls for the junta to seek
a peaceful settlement with the country's numerous ethnic minorities. 

    At the same time, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
are following up their policy of ``constructive engagement'' towards the
SLORC with a vigorous expansion of trade. 

    The Burmese government, already backed by China, opened a new diplomatic
front last week by sending a top general to Vietnam. 

    It received further encouragement in Tokyo when the Japanese government
said it was reviewing a ban since 1988 on official development aid to Burma. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-03-12 06:52:19 EST
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