Pubdate: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press Author: GRANT PECK Associated Press Writer U.S., EUROPE BOYCOTT DRUG MEETING YANGON, Myanmar - The United States and European countries were rebuked Tuesday for passing up an international heroin conference because it was in Myanmar, one of the world's biggest producers of the drug. Participants at the 4th International Heroin Conference said the boycott by the world's biggest heroin consuming nations ran counter to the spirit of international cooperation against drug trafficking. "As two of the largest markets for heroin in the world, the United States and Britain bear a special responsibility to work with the rest of the international community in every way possible," Home Affairs Minister Col. Tin Hlaing said in his opening address. The four-day conference was organized by Interpol, the Lyon, France-based agency that bolsters links among national police forces. Other countries boycotting the conference include France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. Representatives of 26 other countries, including Australia and Switzerland, were listed as attending. Washington and other critics say the military regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has failed to seriously crack down on drugs and has such a poor human rights record that it does not deserve the legitimacy conferred by the conference. "The United States believes that the Burmese regime could use the conference to create the false impression of international approval, both by Interpol and by participating countries, for its counternarcotics and anti-crime performance," U.S. State Department spokesman James Foley said Tuesday in Washington. "Burma's counternarcotics efforts, while improving, are far from what is necessary. And Burma, of course, persists in its disregard for political and human rights." The New York-based Human Rights Watch likened holding the meeting in Yangon to "holding a convention on weapons of mass destruction in Baghdad, on women's rights in Kabul or on terrorism in Tripoli." Myanmar officials are especially sensitive to criticism on the drug issue because they feel they have made great achievements in the fight against drugs especially measured by the number of seizures with almost no outside aid. Most foreign aid to the country was cut off a decade ago following the bloody suppression of protests against military rule. - --- MAP posted-by: Rich O'Grady