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CANADA PRESSES BURMA WITH NEW ECONO



Subject: CANADA PRESSES BURMA WITH NEW ECONOMIC SANCTIONS


 Canada presses Burma with new economic sanctions 
 04:18 p.m Aug 07, 1997 Eastern 

 By Randall Palmer 

 OTTAWA, Aug 7 (Reuter) - Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd
 Axworthy announced additional economic sanctions against Burma
 on Thursday to increase pressure on the country's military leaders to
 improve human rights and move toward democracy. 

 Canada will withdraw Burma's General Preferential Tariff eligibility,
 require all Canadian exporters to Burma to have an export permit
 and encourage businesses not to invest in the country, he told a news
 conference. 

 ``Burma's military leaders have made no effort to improve the
 current situation and have repeatedly failed to respond to the
 international community's attempts to open channels of
 communication,'' Axworthy said in a statement. 

 ``The actions we have taken today are intended to convey the
 seriousness of our concerns over the suppression of political
 freedoms and our frustration with Burma's failure to curb the
 production and trafficking of illegal drugs.'' 

 Burma is the largest source for illegal heroin entering North
 America, the Foreign Affairs Department said. 

 Axworthy spent much of his news conference seeking to justify
 differences in treatment by Canada, which has applied sanctions
 against countries such as Nigeria and Burma while opting for
 dialogue with China, Cuba and Indonesia. 

 He was unable to provide an example of how talking with Beijing
 had improved the human rights situation in China, which was
 criticised recently in a U.S. State Department report on religious
 persecution. 

 But he said dialogue with Cuba had led to the release of some
 political prisoners. 

 ``I wouldn't want to underestimate the importance simply of having a
 face-to-face dialogue,'' Axworthy said. 

 But in the case of Burma, he said, the government was unwilling to
 engage in any meaningful dialogue. 

 Axworthy met in Kuala Lumpur on July 29 with Burmese Foreign
 Minister Ohn Gyaw, who he said failed to respond to any of eight
 Canadian proposals. 

 These included the release of political prisoners, the return to Burma
 of the International Committee of the Red Cross, a clear timetable
 for the constitutional process and an agreement to let a U.N. human
 rights representative visit. 

 Axworthy also announced C$350,000 (US$252,000) in
 humanitarian aid for Burmese refugees in Thailand. 

 Canada suspended bilateral aid to Burma in 1988 and previously
 had cut off military sales, suspended its diplomatic presence and
 frozen export aid and commercial promotion for Canadian firms
 doing business in Burma. 

 Axworthy said proposed exports to Burma by Canadian companies
 would be scrutinised on humanitarian grounds, with items like
 powdered milk for children receiving a permit. 

 Canada maintains a dialogue with Burmese human rights activist
 Aung San Suu Kyi through Canada's ambassador to Burma, who is
 resident in Thailand, and insists that the Burmese government also
 talk with her. ^REUTER@