Exiled Myanmar politicians urge EU to engage in dialogue with military regime

21 Mar (AP) - Two exiled Myanmar politicians said Tuesday that the European Union should not relax its position toward their country, but should engage in a dialogue with the military regime to encourage a national reconciliation.

"Our policy is to seek a negotiated settlement through dialogue," said Thaung Htun, secretary of the foreign affairs committee of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, formed in exile in Manerplaw along the Thai-Myanmar border in late 1990.

Htun, at a joint news conference with Sein Win, prime minister of the exiled government, spoke to reporters in Vienna after meetings with Austrian officials. Austria currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Western nations maintain political and economic sanctions against Myanmar because of the junta's poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. EU foreign ministers agreed in 2004 to tighten sanctions against the military leadership to protest its failure to improve human rights. Measures included extending the visa ban on high-ranking generals. It includes all those ranked brigadier-general and above.

The junta, which seized power in 1988, held a general election in 1990 but refused to honor the results after a landslide victory by the National League for Democracy party of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.

The two men, whose Austria visit continues for the rest of the week, emphasized that in contrast to other Asian countries, Myanmar was headed in the wrong direction and that its population was suffering from severe human rights abuses, malnutrition, poverty and the spread of the AIDS virus.

"What we are asking the European Union is keep the European common position strong. You have no reason to relax it because the military is not doing anything; Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest and 15 members of parliament are under arrest," said Win, who is a cousin of Suu Kyi as well as chairman of the Party for National Democracy.

He was elected prime minister of the NCGUB following the formation of the government-in-exile on Dec. 18, 1990.

The two lawmakers said the National League for Democracy would be ready to recognize the military regime as a transitional government if it allowed the parliament to convene based on the result of 1990 elections.

That way, we can normalize relations between (the) current government and (the) international community," Htun said.