Albright says Myanmar source of illicit drugs

Tue, 29 Jul 1997, 00:00 WIB | Source: JP

By Santi WE Soekanto and Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia (JP): The transnational threat of the
drugs trade became a bone of contention at the Post Ministerial
Conference (PMC) of ASEAN yesterday, ending up in finger pointing
between participants of the meeting.

United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright accused
Myanmar of being a source of illegal drugs while Myanmar Foreign
Minister U Ohn Gyaw defended his country as a victim of its
colonial legacy.

Recounting the devastating effects of drug trafficking on the
United States and the Southeast Asian region, Albright said "the
primary source of these drugs is Myanmar".

"Narcotics production has grown in Myanmar year after year,
defying every international effort to solve the problem," she
said.

Ohn Gyaw took time during the PMC to make a statement on his
country's efforts against drugs.

"Under the colonial yoke, poppy cultivation was legally
sanctioned. Legal trade in opium provided a source of revenue for
the colonial government," he said explaining the historical
predicament.

The two-day PMC serves as a forum between the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its dialog partners.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The dialog partners participating in the PMC are Australia,
Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, New
Zealand, Russia and the United States.

Despite the tough statements made, Indonesian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas maintained that the exchange on drug
trafficking was only one part of the whole discussion between
ASEAN and its ten dialog partners.

"I think we had a good discussion on U.S. and ASEAN
relations," he said. "We had very frank but very friendly
exchanges."

Later yesterday, ASEAN ministers, each designated one dialog
partner, held individual talks with their counterparts. Indonesia
was the coordinator for ASEAN on its talks with the U.S.

Alatas said the meeting yesterday also touched on the issue of
economics and trade. ASEAN ministers, he said, made a point that
development cooperation with the U.S. had "declined a bit".

On behalf of the other ASEAN ministers, Alatas also gave a
progress report to Albright on their preparations to revise the
protocol of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone treaty
"which we really hope could be the basis for accession by
nuclear-weapon states like the United States in order to endorse
the agreement".

According to Alatas, Albright specifically solicited the
support of ASEAN members for the Korean Peninsula Energy
Development Organization (KEDO).

Indonesia is currently the sole ASEAN member in the KEDO.

Speaking on Indonesia-U.S. ties, Alatas said relations were in
general very strong despite Jakarta's recent decision to withdraw
plans to buy American F-16 jet fighters and participation in the
International Military Education Training (IMET) program.

Late yesterday, Alatas also held bilateral talks with a
British high ranking delegation led by Derek Fatchett.

The two took up the subject of arms sales that had been
discussed by Alatas with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook in
Hong Kong late last month.

Alatas said he was informed about the drawing up of a policy
on arms sales by the new British government. Alatas said that if
the new policy prevents Indonesia from purchasing arms in
Britain, "it's understandable" and that Jakarta will find other
sources.

"We should understand that (the new policy) is part of the
(British government) campaign promises. So if they're going to
have another policy which complies with their campaign promises,
it's their right," he said.

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