Wired News on June 1, 1995

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: Wired News on June 1, 1995
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Burmese premier to visit Indonesia

      JAKARTA, June 1 (Reuter) - Burmese Prime Minister Than Shwe will visit
Indonesia from June 5-8 to discuss economic and trade relations, Indonesia's
State Secretary Murdiono said on Thursday. 

    ``The purpose of the visit of our state guest from Myanmar (Burma) is to
increase economic and trade relations between the two countries,'' Murdiono
told reporters. 

    General Than Shwe will have talks with Indonesia's President Suharto and
visit the state-owned aircraft factory Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara
(IPTN) in nearby Bandung. 

    He will also travel to Yogyakarta in Central Java. 

    It will be his first visit to a member of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- since  becoming chairman of Burma's
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council in 1992. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 95-06-01 09:09:22 EDT
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Burma sentences three Thais to life for fake notes

      RANGOON, JUNE 1 (Reuter) - Three Thais who tried to smuggle a large
quantity of counterfeit Burmese currency into the country were sentenced to
life imprisonment with labour, the state-run Myanma News Agency reported on
Thursday. 

    The three, all men, were arrested at Rangoon airport on April 9 when they
were found with fake Burmese bank notes with a face value of 110 million kyat
($18 million at the official rate of exchange, $1 million at the black market
rate). 

    The Rangoon court said the counterfeit money could have dangerously
affected currency in circulation, caused public panic, destabilised the
monetary situation and adversely affected the state's economic and financial
undertakings. 

    The court, which delivered the verdict and sentenced the three on
Wednesday, said the sentences were intended to act as a deterrent. 

REUTER
Transmitted: 95-06-01 05:20:17 EDT
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