Albright says Myanmar source of illicit drugs

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.

Editorial -- Page 4

Activist -- Page 5

Related stories -- Page 6