Myanmar Urges Western Countries to

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Myanmar Urges Western Countries to Stop Finger pointing on  Drug Fight  

               Asia:Myanmar


               Xinhua
               10-NOV-98

               Myanmar Urges Western
               Countries to Stop Finger-
               pointing on Drug Fight 

               YANGON (Nov. 10) XINHUA - Myanmar has urged the western
countries,
               which are seriously affected and inflicted by narcotic drug
menace, not only to
               stop fingerpointing and scapegoating others, but also to
seriously find more
               realistic and practical methods to tackle the drug menace
problem. 

               A latest official report on the political situation of
Myanmar, issued by the Office
               of Strategic Studies (OSS) of the Defense Ministry, points
out that "pressuring
               others to accept and carry out methods, which have
undeniably failed in the past,
               will definitely not help in our fight against narcotic drugs". 

               The report cites Myanmar's method in dealing with former
drug warlord Khun
               Sa, saying that, in spite of all the natural obstacles and
man-made difficulties
               imposed by the Western nations, it managed single-handedly
to disband his army
               after his unconditional surrender in January 1996 and then
to have Khun Sa and
               his top aides under government custody and supervision. 

               "His troops were sent back to their respective villages to
live and work there as
               normal citizens, while the leaders were also given financial
and other assistance
               to start a new life doing legitimate business," the report
says. 

               Myanmar government described the surrender of Khun Sa as one
of its two
               major wins since taking over of state power in late 1988. 

               In spite of the fact, the report says, the western world,
especially the United
               States and the United Kingdom, have continued in accusing
Myanmar of not
               being serious in the fight against narcotic drugs, not
extraditing Khun Sa to the
               U.S. and not prosecuting him and other ethnic leaders. 

               On survey of opium cultivation and production in Myanmar,
the report charges
               that the western nations have reported differently. 

               According to the figures released by the OSS at the end of
1997, there was a
               wide gap existing in the forecasts made by Myanmar and the
U.S. on the
               cultivation and production of opium. 

               According to Myanmar's related data which were based on
ground survey and
               calculation, there were 9,751 hectares in poppy cultivation
and 106 tons in
               opium production in 1996, but according to the U.S. data
which were based on
               satellite images, there were respectively 162,496 hectares
and 2,560 tons which
               were enough to produce at least 250 tons of refined heroin. 

               However, there is no comparison for 1997 in the report.
Meanwhile, the report
               claims that Myanmar has prevented 45 billion U.S. dollars
worth of heroin from
               reaching streets of the U.S. since 1988 up to date despite
cut in assistance by
               the U.S. since then. 

               According to official statistics, in the first six months of
this year, Myanmar
               seized a total of 4,927 kilograms of narcotics including 219
kg of heroin and
               4,471 kg of opium, destroying 15 heroin refineries and over
8,000 hectares of
               poppy plantations. 





                                                   

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