Reuters : ASEAN urges national reco (r)

[enmasse_1@xxxxxxxxxxx]

RE:Reuters: ASEAN urges national reconciliation in Myanmar
==========================================================

Despite the NLD's consistant efforts to bring the SPDC for an open 
dialogue, the miltary regime had always maintained that they did not 
have room for a dialogue. 

This week, ASEAN ministers have the convenience of having the 
representative Burmese Minister of Foreign Affairs,Ohn Gyaw with them in 
Manila. They could have told Ohn Gyaw right in the face whatever they 
wanted to tell him. 

Yet, instead of telling the SPDC to reconcile with the opposition by 
accepting to come to a discussion table, they chose to come up with such 
a redundant statement. It was the SPDC which seized the power 
non-democrtically, refused to honor the results of the May 1990 general 
elections and ignore the NLD's consistant call to reconcile.

It was with great regret that we had to witness how ASEAN had been made 
to react like a bunch of fools for obvious reasons. Greed!! (It all 
started with the cheap offers from the SLORC which were very tempting 
and hard to refuse. Now, it looks like ASEAN is stuck with SPDC, the 
military regime of Burma for good as we expected.) 

Minn Kyaw Minn
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>From notes@xxxxxxx Sat Jul 25 06:56:09 1998
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>Date: 25 Jul 1998 06:17:54
>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>From: hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Reuters : ASEAN urges national reconciliation in Myanmar
>To: Recipients of burmanet-l <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
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>ASEAN urges national reconciliation in Myanmar 
>07:20 a.m. Jul 25, 1998 Eastern 
>
>MANILA, July 25 (Reuters) - The Association of South East Asian Nations
>(ASEAN) on Saturday urged member state Myanmar, torn by a political
>conflict between the military junta and pro-democracy campaigners, to 
work
>harder for reconciliation. 
>
>Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon, chairman of a two-day 
ASEAN
>foreign ministers conference in Manila, said both sides in the conflict
>should approach negotiations without preconditions. 
>
>``We would be happy if indeed the reconciliation process is 
accelerated,''
>he told a news conference at the end of the meeting. 
>
>``It takes all parties in a process of conflict to move towards
>convergence. We would like to see that when we talk about national
>reconciliation... 
>
>``Dialogue should be without conditions. If you are prepared to 
negotiate,
>you should say, 'I am prepared to meet you'. The devil you may be --
>because we are both devils in each other's eyes if you don't like each
>other -- but no conditions. 
>
>Siazon said he had had an intense exchange of views with Myanmar
>authorities and that he believed that universities there would be
>re-opened. 
>
>The military government closed institutions of higher learning in 
December
>1996 after widespread student unrest. 
>
>Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi leads continued efforts to 
democratise
>Myanmar, but her movements are restricted. 
>
>Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept the last general 
>election in May 1990, but the military ignored the results and has 
refused
>to convene parliament. 
>
>ASEAN accepted Myanmar in the regional grouping last year despite 
vehement
>objections by Western countries and human rights groups. 
>
>The other members of the nine-nation group are Malaysia, Indonesia,
>Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam and Laos. 
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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