Japan to aid Myanmar: Report

Thu, 26 Apr 2001, 00:00 WIB | Source: AP

BANGKOK (AP): Japan will give $28.6 million in aid to Myanmar
to reward its military rulers for starting reconciliation talks
with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the International
Herald Tribune reported on Wednesday on its website.

The report said the grant is the biggest since the junta took
power in 1988 after a bloody crackdown on a massive democracy
uprising. It breaks a long-standing informal ban on bilateral
assistance to Myanmar, also known as Burma.

However, the grant was approved in consultation with the
United Nations and the United States, said the Paris-based
newspaper, which is published jointly by The New York Times and
The Washington Post.

The Tribune report quoted unidentified sources as saying that
the 3.5 billion yen ($28.6 million) aid will be used for
reconstruction of turbines in a hydropower dam in eastern
Myanmar.

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