Myanmar opposition leader calls for international support to push reform ( AFP ) September 22, 2002


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Myanmar opposition leader calls for international support to push reform

COPENHAGEN, Sept 22 (AFP)

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi appealed for international support Sunday to hasten the country's transition to democracy, as a summit of EU and Asian leaders in Copenhagen got underway.

"I would like to appeal to our friends all over the world to do everything they can to ensure that we progress towards democracy, by which I mean a society which guarantees our people both security and freedom," the veteran pro-democracy campaigner said in a video address.

"From the point of view of the National League for Democracy (NLD), change could not come fast enough. If change came today, it would still be too late," she told the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) being held in the Danish capital.

"There is so much more to be done for this country than I had ever imagined," said the rights activist, freed in May after 19 months of house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi and Yangon remain at odds over key issues such as the pace of political reform and a national reconciliation dialogue.

"Quick change is necessary. Speedy change is the way to resolve Burma's problems. We cannot afford infinite delay," she said."The longer we take over the proposed changes, the more likely it is that people will lose confidence in the sincerity of those who say they do want change."

Supporters of the opposition leader -- whose National League for Democracy won a sweeping 1990 election victory never recognised by the ruling military junta -- backed her calls for international pressure.

"We call on the international community to apply serious and sustained economic and political pressure on the military government of Burma until it reverses its unacceptable treatment of its citizens," said a statement released by the International Burma Summit at their one day conference.

Human Rights Commissioner for the Baltics, Helle Degn, reacted to the opposition leader's speech saying she wished "that the leaders participating in the ASEM summit could also hear this voice, this cry for freedom and security for Burma."

"I hope that they could also see the videos which we have been confronted with today, which bear witness to the brutality (of the military regime) that is beyond understanding," said the former Danish minister for international cooperation.

Since October 2000, Aung San Suu Kyi and the military regime have been engaged in talks aimed at ending years of deadlock since the junta seized power after a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988.

Aung San Suu Kyi said when released in May that the talks had moved past an initial confidence-building stage and would now begin to handle thorny issues.But since then there have been no concrete developments, prompting concern that the talks may have ground to a halt.

Earlier this month, Aung San Suu Kyi met an EU delegation visiting Yangon to press for reform and the release of political prisoners.The European Union has been among the staunchest advocates of political reconciliation in Myanmar, which is subject to crippling sanctions by Brussels.The EU delegation said in a statement at the end of its mission that it had pressed Myanmar's rulers on political reform and expressed "continued concern at the human rights situation."

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