Kyodo 5/27 (2)

[mcs@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

20:36 JST

Suu Kyi action said to be progress in Myanmar politics

     Japan views Aung San Suu Kyi's convening of a pro-democracy
congress in Myanmar as ''a step forward'' in terms of increasing the
activities of the country's political parties, Vice Foreign Minister
Sadayuki Hayashi said Monday.
     Hayashi also told a news conference that Tokyo will closely
monitor how Myanmar's ruling military junta responds to demands for
the immediate release of detained dissidents and for a halt to its
harassment of pro-democracy advocates.