EBO BURMA NEWS, 10 JULY 2003

EBO BURMA NEWS, 10 JULY 2003

News Summary:

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1. Japan PM Koizumi, Malaysian Deputy PM Abdullah agree to pressure Myanmar

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Japan PM Koizumi, Malaysian Deputy PM Abdullah agree to pressure Myanmar

TOKYO, July 10 (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi agreed at talks Thursday

to pressure Myanmar's junta over its detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The current situation is not desirable," Abdullah said, according to a

Japanese official.

"I want Myanmar to understand this is not interference with domestic

affairs, but an expression of concern as a friend and neighbour," he said in

comments translated into Japanese.

Foreign ministers at an ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh last month urged

Myanmar to release the pro-democracy leader, a departure from its usual stance

of not mentioning conditions in its member countries.

Koizumi stressed at the 30-minute meeting that Myanmar needed to

democratise in order to receive new Japanese aid, after Tokyo told the regime

last week it would be cut off.

"In order to create an environment that would enable us to provide such

assistance, Myanmar needs to listen to the opinions of the United States,

Europe, and the international community," Koizumi was quoted as saying by the

official.

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