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Reuters-Myanmar says regrets U.S. d



Subject: Reuters-Myanmar says regrets U.S. drugs criticisms

Myanmar says regrets U.S. drugs criticisms
01:40 a.m. Mar 08, 1999 Eastern
By Sutin Wannabovorn

CHIANG RAI, Thailand, March 8 (Reuters) - Myanmar Foreign Minister Wing Aung
said on Monday he very much regretted U.S. criticism of his country's drug
eradication efforts.

``We very much regret that they ignore our efforts and turn a blind eye on
what we have been doing,'' he told reporters in northern Thailand, where he
was accompanying the leader of his country's military government on an
official visit.

``They even admitted in one of their reports that the production over
dropping 26 percent,'' he said. ``Why then did they come up with the
accusation that we are not serious in drugs eradication?''

Win Aung spoke while inspecting a crop substitution project in northern
Thailand with Myanmar Premier Senior General Than Shwe and Thai
counterparts.

A U.S. State Department report last month said Myanmar's opium production
fell 26 percent last year, due partly to government efforts to eradicate the
crop.

But it also said Myanmar remained the world's biggest opium and heroin
producer and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said last week Myanmar
protected drug dealers and was not doing enough in drug suppression.

``We are very serious on drugs eradication,'' Win Aung said. ``If there are
amphetamine factories, we will locate and destroy them.''

Than Shwe is the first Myanmar leader to visit Thailand on a bilateral basis
in over 10 years. Thailand wants Myanmar to take action to stem a flood of
heroin and amphetamines across their border, which it has termed its biggest
national security threat.

Win Aung said Myanmar had seized more than six million amphetamine tablets
last year and added: ``We both have try our best to stop all the drugs.''

He said he was impressed with the Thai crop substitution projects, which the
United States considers a model for other countries to follow.

Win Aung said Myanmar would try to emulate them although it had ``very
successful'' crop substition projects of its own.


Disnadda Diskul, the manager of the Thai crop substitution project said more
than ten thousand hilltribe people used to grow opium in the area.

``We began the project here in 1988 and now the area is totally free of
opium,'' he said.