Oil Co.'s Burma Plans Critized

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Oil Co.'s Myanmar Plans Criticized

 .c The Associated Press  

LONDON (AP) - Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has criticized a British oil
company for its plans to invest in Myanmar, which is ruled by a military
regime. 

``Any company that is dealing with a repressive government contributes to
repression in the country,'' she said in a videotape released in connection
with an Asian-Europe summit that opens Thursday in London. 

The winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize singled out Premier Consolidated Oil
Fields, which is one of several Western and Asian companies building a $1
billion pipeline to carry natural gas from Myanmar's Gulf of Martaban to a
power plant in Thailand. 

The project has long been delayed because of criticism by human rights and
environmental groups. Other companies involved are the U.S.-based Unocal
Corp., France's Total and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand. 

``We are inclined to think that Premier Oil came in because they hope to reap
rich profits from coming into Burma at this time,'' Suu Kyi said in the tape,
referring to the other name by which Myanmar is known. 

``And this is, of course, to put it very simply, a very selfish point of
view.'' 

Premier Oil did not immediately return a call seeking comment. 

The military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, brutally crushed anti-
government riots in 1988. Elections were held in 1990, but the military
refused to allow Parliament to convene after Suu Kyi's opposition National
League for Democracy won a landslide victory. 

``Apart from the actual revenues that this brings to the government, it also
contributes a psychological boost, because it makes the government feel that,
however repressive they may be, they still have the support of big companies -
or at least one or two big companies,'' Suu Kyi said. 

Britain and other Western and Asian democracies have criticized Myanmar for
its human rights record.