Manila says Myanmar junta talking t (r)

[enmasse_1@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Junta having low-level talks with the opposition in Burma ?

As far as I can remember that was what U Tin U of NLD was suggesting
along that line last week or so.

Since then, we have not heard any news about this so called low-level 
meeting with the opposition, so far. Instead reports coming out are that 
the elected MPs from the NLD are being arrested in Burma. I hope this is 
not the kind of low-level talks that Than Shwe was referring to. 

Time will tell if there is any truth about the claim. I just hope Than 
Shwe was not making it up just to avoid any pressure from Ramos and to 
make a worth while stay during his visist and get the trade deals 
signed.

Minn Kyaw Minn

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>From notes@xxxxxxx Wed Feb 18 13:06:13 1998
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>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
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>Subject: Manila says Myanmar junta talking to opponents
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>Manila says Myanmar junta talking to opponents
>
>By Ruben Alabastro 
>
>MANILA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Philippine President Fidel Ramos said on 
Wednesday Myanmar's (Burma's) ruling military junta was holding 
low-level meetings with the opposition which could lead to talks between 
leaders of the two sides. 

>``What we are seeing now is the dialogues are taking place at lower 
levels building up to the very top of the leadership,'' he told 
reporters after a round of golf with visiting Myanmar Prime Minister 
Than Shwe. 
>
>``I think these are very good developments,'' Ramos added, but he gave 
no details. 
>
>There have been no reports recently of any meeting between Myanmar's 
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the main 
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). It was not clear what 
talks Ramos was referring to. 
>
>Yangon's military rulers late last year invited the NLD for talks but 
refused to allow opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi 
to participate. NLD rejected the offer. 
>
>Ramos and Than Shwe, who is chairman of the SPDC, have met three times 
since the Myanmar leader arrived on Tuesday for a three-day visit but no 
details have been released on what they discussed. 
>
>Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said on Tuesday Manila 
would try to encourage Myanmar to pursue national reconciliation. 
>
>Than Shwe's visit coincided with reports from Yangon that the military 
rulers had jailed four opposition members, including a parliamentarian, 
in two townships. 
>
>Manila has privately expressed concern about arrests of opposition 
members in Myanmar, saying such incidents could strain the relations of 
the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with other 
countries. 
>
>ASEAN accepted Myanmar as a member last year, against opposition from 
the United States and the European Union. 
>
>A handful of demonstrators unfurled banners condemning human rights 
violations in Myanmar when Than Shwe on Wednesday laid a wreath at the 
monument to Philippine freedom hero Jose Rizal. 
>
>Police seized the streamers and shooed away the protesters. 
>
>


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