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Britain launches push for EU curb o



Britain launches push for EU curb on Myanmar tourism

Sat 03 Oct 98 - 03:26 GMT 

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 3 (AFP) - A fresh drive for a European Union curb on tourism
in Myanmar in response to the military junta's crackdown on the democratic
opposition is to be launched by Britain here on Monday.

At talks with his EU counterparts, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook will
call for the bloc's position on Myanmar -- formerly known as Burma -- to be
strengthened.

The British move follows Myanmar's outright rejection of an EU proposal to
send a mission of senior officials to the country for talks with the
government and Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD).

"The Burmese basically said get lost, which strengthens the argument of those
countries that want to see the sanctions toughened up", said a senior EU
diplomat.

London is proposing that other EU governments formally adopt its policy of
actively discouraging tour operators from offering holidays in Myanmar.

It is also calling for an extension of a visa-ban on members of the ruling
junta to cover lower ranking officials.

No decision on these issues will be taken on Monday.

But Britain is hoping it can swing the debate in favour of action when the the
minsters next meet on October 26,  when the EU's two-year-old visa ban,
embargo on arms sales and suspension of non-humanitarian aid or development
pojects is due to be renewed.

Myanmar has also been stripped of its preferential access to EU markets in
protest at the widespread use of forced labour on military and government
projects.

The EU has so far refused to follow the United States by imposing broader
economic sanctions. The US banned all new investment in Myanmar in April last
year.

France in particular is strongly opposed to economic sanctions and could
resist Britain's proposals on tourism.

French tour operator Club Med is one of the major foreign investors in Burma's
tourist industry.

©AFP 1998

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