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UN Chief Urges Democracy Moves by M (r)



UN chief urges democracy moves by Myanmar

       Fri 04 Sep 98 - 22:46 GMT

       UNITED NATIONS, Sept 4 (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on
Friday urged Myanmar authorities to
       take steps towards democracy and to hold a dialogue with the main
opposition leader, his spokesman said here.

       UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that at a meeting with the junta's
foreign minister on the sidelines of the
       Non-aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Durban, South Africa, Annan
"pressed him on the need for the democratic
       liberalisation of Myanmar."

       He also called for "a sustained and effective dialogue with Aung San
Suu Kyi," Eckhard said.

       Eckhard did not mention Annan's attempts to send a high-level envoy
to Myanmar which has been rebuffed by the
       authorities.

       Annan's meeting with the foreign minister came as crowds of Myanmar
students staged an anti-government rally on a
       university campus in the capital Yangon.

       Political tensions are rising in Myanmar and the leading opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) of
       Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has vowed to convene the
parliament elected in 1990 but which has never
       been allowed to sit.


)AFP 1998