MYANMAR INTERPOL DRUG MEETING HITS AT US, EUROPE

YANGON, - The United States and
most European nations came in for heavy criticism at a controversial
Interpol conference on heroin in Yangon on Tuesday for refusing to
attend because of the venue.

The director of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence Directorate, Paul
Higdon, and Myanmar Home Affairs Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing laid on
the criticism at the opening of the four-day meeting.

Washington and the Europeans had declined to attend the meeting in
Yangon, capital of a country that is one of the world's leading
producers of heroin, saying they feared Myanmar would use the event to
give a false impression of its drug suppression efforts.

Some of the absentees had also linked their refusal to attend to
Myanmar's poor human rights and political record.

Myanmar's military rulers curb the activities of a vibrant opposition,
led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and hold many political prisoners.

"I for one... regret that a political situation which is viewed by
many as a serious problem has held hostage the universally recognised
problem of drug abuse," said Higdon.

"I also regret their (U.S. and most European) non-participation...
because I feel there is more to gain through dialogue than through
boycott," he added.

By hosting the four-day conference to some 65 delegates from 28
countries, Myanmar was showing that it was ready to be challenged, he
said.

"I might add that as one of the major heroin producing countries in
the world...They should be challenged," Higdon said.

Among countries attending the conference are Australia, Austria,
China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand and
agencies such as the United Nations International Drug Control Programme.

The closed-door meeting will among other things examine heroin
production and trafficking routes in Asia and elsewhere, as well as
the heroin markets in the United States and Europe.

Myanmar's opponents have accused it of links to the drug trade and
pointed to its protection of well-known heroin traffickers such as
Khun Sa and Lo Hsing-han.

Myanmar's northeastern Shan State forms part of the infamous Golden
Triangle poppy growing area where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and
Thailand meet. The state is one of the world's main sources of heroin.

Home Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing told the conference it was
unfortunate the United States, Britain and many other European nations
had chosen to boycott the conference.

"As two of the largest markets for heroin in the world, the United
States and Britain bear a special responsibility to work with the rest
of the international community in every way possible," he said.

"Their huge markets fuel a global narcotics trade which threatens to
affect many countries in the developing world, including Myanmar," he
added.

He said Myanmar's drug problem was a legacy of its colonial past, and
was linked with insurgency movements.

Myanmar was determined to eliminate totally poppy growing in the
country in 15 years time. But international assistance was required to
achieve this, Tin Hlaing said.