NEWS - (AFP) AOL cancels link wit

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Subject: NEWS -  (AFP)  AOL cancels link with Burmese Website linked to

military junta
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Myanmar-US-AOL
   AOL cancels link with Burmese Website linked to military junta
   
   DULLES, Virginia, Aug 18 (AFP) - America Online has canceled a link
with a 
Burmese website after learning it was run by Myanmar's ruling military
junta 
which is blamed for widespread rights abuses, a Burmese pro-democracy
group 
said Wednesday.
   Last week AOL decided to connect its Asia Forum with www.myanmar.com
but 
has now canceled the deal after learning of the site's junta connection
and 
"pervasive human rights violations in Burma," the Free Burma Coalition
said.
   It said the website was mainly used to attract foreign tourists and
also 
carried vitriolic attacks from the military-controlled press on
pro-democracy 
militants, including Nobel Peace Price laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and
Burmese 
refugees in Thailand.
   "It looked bad for an 'information technology' company to be leading
its 
users to the propaganda page of a regime that has closed the
universities and 
restricted all kinds of information, including the Internet. To their
credit, 
AOL reacted quickly," it added.
   The coalition said it learned about AOL's gaffe from an e-mail
message from 
Myanmar's Office of Strategic Services (security police).
   ga/smb