Source: International Herald Tribune Sept 2, 1997
contact: iht@iht.com

U.K. Official Bars Burma From Meeting, Citing Drugs
Compiled by IHT staff from dispaches

SINGAPOREThe British foreign secretary, Robin Cook,
condemned the Burmese government Monday, saying that it profited
from the drug trade and that it would not be admitted to a meeting of
European and Asian government leaders next year.

Mr. Cook said at a meeting of business leaders in Singapore
that Europe's recent decision to deny visas to senior Burmese officials
made their inclusion at the AsiaEurope Meeting in London in April
impossible.

In response to Mr. Cook's remarks, Burma assailed Britain as
"the world's No. 1 culprit" for narcotics.

A senior military official said that the drug problem Burma is
"encountering today is the direct result of Britain's colonial strategy
150 years ago."

"Whether Mr. Cook is ignorant of the fact or deliberately
trying to cover up the most irresponsible and unforgivable criminal act
Britain committed by forcefully introducing opium into Asia is
anybody's guess," the official added.

Burma was a British colony from the mid19th century until
independence in 1948.

The opium trade provided major revenues for Britain from
many of its territories in Asia.

The AsiaEurope Meeting is a forum linking the 15 members
of the European Union with Japan, China, South Korea and some
members of the Association of South East Asian Nations.

ASEAN admitted Burma to its ranks this year, despite strong
Western criticism of Rangoon's record on human rights and the
flourishing drug trade in the country.

"There is a common European position across all European
countries not to grant visas to ministers from Burrna which will make it
impossible for us to consider the inclusion of Burma in the ASEAN
process next year," Mr. Cook said at the end of a fournation tour of
Southeast Asia.

"Burma is the largest single world producer of opium, and it
has achieved that infamous position precisely because it is a
government that does not act against the drug barons," he said.

"It is not only a deeply repressive regime, but it is also a
deeply irresponsible regime in that it is one of the few governments in
the world whose members are prepared to profit out of the drugs trade
rather than to seek to suppress the drugs trade," he added.

Mr. Cook said at a news conference before leaving for home
that Britain could bar Burma from the gathering because it was not a
bloctobloc meeting but a voluntary dialogue between nations.
(Reuters, AFP)