Myanmar opposition warns against attaching strings to talks

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- The party of Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday urged the military junta not to set preconditions for a meeting with her in the wake of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

The junta leaders have offered to meet with Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, but only on condition she renounce widespread calls for international sanctions against the military regime, which has been widely condemned for breaking up the protests September 26-27.

"The success of a dialogue is based on sincerity and the spirit of give and take," said the National League for Democracy statement, which was based on past speeches by Suu Kyi. "The will for achieving success is also crucial and there should not be any preconditions."

The statement, which follows similar ones by NLD figures, came after the junta said it hoped to achieve "smooth relations" with Suu Kyi. On Monday, the regime suggested her release from house arrest was unlikely anytime soon.

Protests erupted August 19 after the government raised fuel prices, but anger mushroomed into nationwide marches by tens of thousands demanding democratic reforms.

The junta's troops crushed pro-democracy demonstrations with gunfire, beatings and arrests. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including thousands of monks who led the rallies.

Ye Min Tun, a diplomat at Myanmar's embassy in London, resigned to protest the crackdown, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday.

"I have never seen such a scenario in the whole of my life. The government is arresting and beating the peaceful Buddhist monks," he told the BBC. "I think that my fellow colleagues will make their decision on their own -- but I can't say that anybody's going to follow my way."

No one at the embassy was willing to comment on the report or confirm the diplomat was on staff. British government records list a Ye Min Tun as a second secretary at the embassy.

Global outrage was directed at the junta, with the international community condemning the crackdown and calling for the release of the 62-year-old Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years without trial.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations circulated a draft statement late Tuesday that would have the Security Council strongly deplore "the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions."

The statement also urges the junta to stop all "repressive measures," including the detention of protesters, and open a dialogue with the various political and ethnic groups.

The government said last week that the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, was willing to meet personally with Suu Kyi, but only if she met certain conditions. Than Shwe has only met with her once before, in 2002, and the talks broke down quickly.

While resisting preconditions, the NLD said it strongly favored dialogue.

"The will to meet and negotiate is the key to resolving the country's dire problems," said the statement.

The party statement, although its first since Than Shwe's offer to meet with Suu Kyi, could not be taken as her personal reaction, since the NLD has not had contact with the democracy leader since May 2004.

While many nations have called for sanctions to punish the regime and force it to open up the political process, China -- which has a veto on the U.N. Security Council -- is arguing against them.

"Sanctions or pressure will not help to solve the issue in Myanmar," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular news conference in Beijing on Tuesday. He said China was encouraged that the situation in Myanmar was calmer. "We hope this momentum can be maintained," he said.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece of the junta, said Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi had been appointed to coordinate contacts with Suu Kyi.

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari suggested creating the Cabinet-level job during his visit to Myanmar last week, the announcement said. It added that the junta had accepted the idea "in respect of Gambari's recommendation and in view of smooth relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi." "Daw" is a polite term for addressing older women.

The printed statement came amid intense international pressure for the junta to enter talks with Myanmar's democracy movement. The junta did not indicate when Aung Kyi might meet with Suu Kyi.

It appeared, however, that Aung Kyi would coordinate Suu Kyi's contacts with both the regime and the U.N., which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracy advocates and a military that has ruled since 1962.

Aung Kyi has a reputation among foreign diplomats, U.N. officials and aid groups as being relatively accessible and reasonable, compared with the top junta leaders.

The military presence has considerably eased in Yangon's streets in recent days. There were no more barricades, except along the road going to Suu Kyi's house, which has three layers of barbed wire barricades and sandbagged troops' positions.

On Tuesday, a few monks could be seen walking along the streets, holding begging bowls. People crowded open-air food stalls in the evening, before the 10 p.m. curfew. Some residents, however, continued to feel uneasy despite the calm, fearing sporadic raids and possible arrests.

The junta came to power after crushing a 1988 pro-democracy uprising by killing as many as 3,000 people. Myanmar's previous constitution was suspended in 1988. The junta then allowed elections in 1990, but nullified the vote after Suu Kyi's party won. E-mail to a friend

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