Pubdate: Thu, 16 May 2002
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer

BURMESE OFFICER VISITS TO DISCUSS DRUG EFFORTS

A senior member of Burma's military is meeting with Bush administration 
officials from at least five agencies this week, including the State 
Department and the White House, to discuss the country's drug eradication 
efforts, officials confirmed yesterday.

The visit by Col. Kyaw Thein, largely unpublicized by the administration, 
appears to represent the most extensive contacts between a Burmese official 
and the U.S. government in years. Former president Bill Clinton in 1996 
imposed a ban on visits by officials in a position to formulate policy, 
generally those at the rank of general.

While the United States has coordinated its sanctions against Burma with 
the European Union, Kyaw is specifically mentioned as ineligible for a visa 
to European Union countries, according to the text of the EU ban.

Administration officials said the visit was unrelated to the decision 
earlier this month by the military junta to release Burmese democracy 
activist Aung San Suu Kyi after 19 months of house arrest.

Officials said the trip had been in the works long before the release of 
Suu Kyi, and that the sole purpose of the visit was to discuss ways the 
Southeast Asian nation could address its drug problems. In February, Kyaw 
participated in a survey of poppy fields with U.S. officials in Burma.

But human rights activists say Burma frequently has used its counterdrug 
efforts as leverage to gain greater international recognition and 
cooperation. Some said the Kyaw visit, coming on the heels of the political 
breakthrough in Rangoon, may send the wrong message to the military regime.

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), a member of the House International Relations 
Committee, sent a letter to the State Department criticizing the meetings 
as a "profound mistake," giving the impression the United States is already 
softening its stance toward the government.

Lantos said that Kyaw is on the list for promotion to general, which "makes 
a mockery" of the ban on visits by high-ranking Burmese government 
officials. "If the visit doesn't violate the letter of the ban, it violates 
the spirit," said Lantos spokesman Matt Gobush.

Administration officials have said Suu Kyi's release would have no effect 
on a wide range of economic and other sanctions the United States has 
imposed on Burma, and they said yesterday that political discussions were 
not planned with Kyaw.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met yesterday with the U.N. 
special envoy for Burma, Razali bin Ismail, and afterward the State 
Department said it would continue to press for political reforms in Burma.

"We hope it [the release of Suu Kyi] indicates that the Burmese regime is 
serious about moving forward with political reform," said State Department 
spokeswoman Lynn Cassel. "Significant concrete steps toward national 
reconciliation and political reform will spur a positive response," such as 
the unconditional release of all prisoners.

Kyaw met Monday with Assistant Secretary of State Rand Beers for what an 
official called a "frank discussion" on drug issues. He is also to meet 
with Mathew P. Daley, the deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and 
Pacific affairs.

The State Department said Kyaw will meet with a "wide range of U.S. 
government agencies," including the Office of National Drug Control Policy 
at the White House, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice and 
Treasury departments.

The State Department, in a report in March, said that Burma last year 
became the world's largest producer of illicit opium after the former 
Taliban regime banned opium production in Afghanistan. Burma is also the 
primary source of amphetamine-type stimulants in Asia, producing an 
estimated 800 million tablets per year, and the State Department says 
Burmese officials have done little to address the problem.

"Burma has taken some useful counternarcotics measures in 2001, but they 
are too limited in duration and scope to have had a significant impact on 
the overall narcotics situation thus far," the report said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens