Myanmar refuses visas to UK governm

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Subject: Myanmar refuses visas to UK government officials

Myanmar refuses visas to UK government officials
09:25 a.m. Dec 01, 1998 Eastern

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Myanmar will now refuse visas to British ministers
and government officials who want to visit the country, the Foreign Office
said on Tuesday.

Foreign Office officials said they regarded the move, which was to take
immediate effect, as an acknowledgement of Britain's leading role in pushing
Myanmar to improve human rights and start talking with opposition leaders
such as Aung San Suu Kyi.

``I regret this move by the (Myanmar) regime. It will in no way dissuade us
from continuing to work for an improvement in the human rights and political
situation,'' Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett said.

The officials said the ban was directed solely at Britain, and did not apply
to other European Union states.

The 15-member EU is at present refusing visas for members of the Myanmar
military and security forces who benefit from moves to block the southern
Asian country's transition to democracy.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the last free elections in
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in 1990. She has since faced periods of
house arrest and harassment at the hands of the military government which
refused to accept the result.