West urged to ask Suu Kyi to tone down

West urged to ask Suu Kyi to tone down

BANGKOK (Reuter): Thai foreign minister Prachuab Chaiyasarn
yesterday said Western nations should ask Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi to tone down her stance to help reach a
compromise with Yangon's military leaders.

"We would like to urge the West to talk to the opposition to
tone down their position to cooperate with the SLORC," Prachuab
said, referring to Myanmar ruling military body, the State Law
and Order Restoration Council.

The United States and many European Union nations have urged
the SLORC to hold talks with Suu Kyi and her National League for
Democracy (NLD) party, which won a 1990 election by a landslide
but was never allowed to take power.

The SLORC says the only forum for dialogue is through the
national convention process.

Suu Kyi angered the SLORC in 1995 when she pulled the NLD out
of the constitutional talks, saying the government-backed
convention did not represent the will of the people and was not
democratic.

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, has also vowed to step
up efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar, and has said she and
her party will be more aggressive in its opposition to the
military regime this year.

Prachuab said Western nations, which have condemned the SLORC
for human rights abuses and its refusal to recognize the NLD as
the elected government, have repeatedly urged members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to persuade
Myanmar's generals to begin a dialogue with Suu Kyi and the NLD.

"The West always mentions ASEAN should talk with SLORC, and
the West have to do their work also," Prachuab said in an
interview.

"If the West is so concerned about what is happening in Burma
(Myanmar), we don't want them to just only talk and blame the
others. They have to...perform their responsibilities also."

He also said Thailand stands behind the ASEAN policy of
"constructive engagement" and non-interference in the internal
affairs of other countries.

But he said Myanmar, which hopes to join the regional grouping
soon, should try and settle the constitution and its problems
with the opposition led by Suu Kyi.

He said the recent unrest in Myanmar, which resulted in the
arrest of dozens of activists and the restriction of Suu Kyi's
movements, should not affect Myanmar's entry into ASEAN.

Prachuab said the exact timing of when Myanmar, along with
Cambodia and Laos, will become full members of ASEAN depended on
their technical preparedness -- not their political situation.
ASEAN also includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the
Philippines and Vietnam.