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.