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World Bank Punishes Myanmar



World Bank Bars Loans to Myanmar


 .c The Associated Press 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- The World Bank has said Myanmar will be ineligible for
new loans because the Southeast Asian nation has failed to pay past loans. 

The announcement Friday sends a signal to lenders worldwide that the country,
also known as Burma, is a bad credit risk. 

The Washington-based bank has not provided any loans to Myanmar since 1987 and
closed its last project in the country in 1995. The country will not be able
to borrow money from the institution until it clears its arrears of about $14
million. 

Today, the state-run press accused Myanmar's pro-democratic opposition of
trying to destabilize the country. A military dictatorship has ruled Myanmar
since the early 1960s. 

``Taking advantage of the economic crisis in the region, some people are
trying to create anarchy by demanding for the impossible,'' the commentary
said. ``They are instigating the public to revolt and protest, leading towards
the disintegration of the country.'' 

Although the commentary did not refer to any organization by name, it appeared
to be talking about the National League for Democracy. 

The NLD, led by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi, won 82 percent of
the seats in parliament in a 1990 election, but the military refused to honor
the result. 

Suu Kyi and her colleagues have vowed they will convene parliament sometime
during September. The government has threatened to arrest the opposition
leaders and ban her party if they try.