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Burma Oppostition Said "Scolded" in



RANGOON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A senior Burmese opposition member said on Friday
the opposition was ``scolded'' at Thursday's meeting with the ruling military
government. 

Tin Oo, vice-chairman of Aung San Suu Kyi's main opposition National League
for Democracy (NLD), told Reuters the meeting on Thursday between several
members of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and NLD executive
council members was meant to warn the NLD not to disrupt the peace of the
nation. 

``I consider it merely a scolding,'' Tin Oo said. ``They accused us of
disrupting peace by issuing announcements -- but why can't we say that our men
are being arrested and sentenced without defence?'' 

The NLD is led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Last week, the SPDC said it had sentenced seven NLD members, including two who
were elected into parliament in an annulled 1990 election, to long prison
terms. 

This enraged the NLD which said the sentencing was illegal because the
government did not allow the accused to engage lawyers. The NLD said they were
merely acting as members of a legitimate opposition party. 

All the accused were arrested in connection with meetings planned by Nobel
Peace laureate Suu Kyi at NLD offices in townships outside Rangoon. The
government had prevented most of the meetings from taking place. 

The SPDC had said that during the talks on Thursday, the NLD was told to stop
holding mass gatherings or risk losing meaningful dialogue. 

It also wanted the NLD to refrain from making accusations and statements
against the government's security measures. ``If they keep on doing this, the
chances of dialogue and national reconciliation, which the NLD has been
talking about, would go further and further away,'' the SPDC said. 

Tin Oo dismissed the remarks as the government's version of the meeting.
``They are writing it as they like,'' he said. 

Tin Oo said NLD chairman Aung Shwe declined the government's invitation to
join the talks on Thursday because Suu Kyi was not included. 

The NLD said meaningful dialogue between the two sides must include the
party's co-founder Suu Kyi who has been seeking a dialogue with the government
since she was freed from six years of house arrest in July 1995. 

NLD officials last met government leaders in July, when Aung Shwe and two
central committee members met the powerful Secretary One Lieutenant General
Khin Nyunt to discuss political