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CNN/Reuter: Feb. 19, 1999





                  Myanmar says EU reneged on ASEAN talks deal

                  February 19, 1999 
                  Web posted at: 3:08 AM EST (0808 GMT) 

                  SINGAPORE, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Myanmar Foreign Minister
Win Aung said on
                  Friday the European Union had reneged on a deal that
would allow Myanmar to
                  attend a meeting between Europe and the Association of
South East Asian
                  Nations (ASEAN). 

                  Win Aung said he had agreed to an EU proposal to talk
about human rights and
                  other thorny issues on the sidelines of the Berlin
meeting next month in return
                  for the Europeans allowing his participation. 

                  He was speaking a day after ASEAN-member Indonesia
threatened to call off
                  the ministerial meeting with the grouping's oldest
dialogue partner because the
                  EU had said Myanmar would not be allowed to participate. 

                  "There was one suggestion -- they asked me whether I was
willing to talk with
                  the...EU on the sidelines of the meeting. I said why not,
I agree to that, I would
                  like to talk to you," Win Aung told Reuters in an
interview. 

                  "But nearer the day we have found many many conditions
coming out of the
                  EU. First they said if you are willing to meet, there
will not be a problem, then
                  they change their mind." 

                  The EU has barred Myanmar senior officials from attending
the meeting
                  because of the military-ruled state's human rights
record. ASEAN says all its
                  foreign ministers must be allowed to attend the talks,
which could bring
                  much-needed financial aid. 

                  The issue, a sticking point since Myanmar was admitted to
ASEAN 18 months
                  ago, has already led to cancellation of a junior level
EU-ASEAN meeting in
                  Bangkok last month. 

                  An EU diplomat in Bangkok said he thought it would take a
diplomatic miracle
                  to save the Berlin meeting. 

                  He said he believed a majority of EU member states would
be willing to accept

                  Myanmar's participation at a vice-ministerial level
provided Yangon agreed to
                  discuss human rights. 

                  "Frankly, though, I am not optimistic about the
representation issue," he said.
                  "ASEAN has to choose between its relationship with Burma
and its dialogue
                  with the EU." 

                  Win Aung said ASEAN would not leave him out. "The rest
will not go without
                  us, without me. Do you think they will go there without
me participating in that
                  meeting? I don't think so." 

                  ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines,
                  Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

                  "If the EU side is agreeable for the participation of
every country from ASEAN,
                  then there will not be any problem," Win Aung said. "I
don't want to say the ball
                  is in their court, but we need to reach some
understanding." 

                  He said Myanmar would not succumb to external pressure
for change and was
                  working on its own problems at its own pace. 

                  "We have our own agenda to build our own nation. If there
is pressure this will
                  just hamper us. If there is no pressure, we will move
forward very quickly." 

                  He blamed critics inside and outside the country for
painting a "totally incorrect"
                  picture of Myanmar. 

                  "We are also human beings and we respect human beings and
human rights,"
                  Win Aung said. 

                  Human rights activists estimate that 1,000 to 2,000
political prisoners are
                  currently in custody in Myanmar. Pro-democracy groups
based in Thailand say
                  some 270 political activists were sentenced last month to
prison terms of seven
                  to 52 years. 

                  Earlier this month Yangon freed "on humanitarian grounds"
a dissident writer it
                  jailed in 1993 for distributing anti-government leaflets. 

                  An EU diplomat in Bangkok said this single release could
not be considered
                  the significant progress the EU was looking for on the
country's human rights
                  record. 

                  But Win Aung said the EU would have to sit at the
negotiating table with
                  Myanmar at some point. 

                  "Only by talking and by having contact, by having the
chance to explain about
                  each other, can we get a better understanding. Based on
that, only then can we
                  move forward," Win Aung said.