REWARD FOR BURMA'S ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS UNLIKELY

The State Department has decided not to recommend that Burma be "certified"
for its anti-narcotics programs, dealing a heavy blow to the repressive
regime's efforts to improve ties with the United States, according to the
Burmese government and congressional sources.

Department officials, the leading advocates within the U.S. government for
taking small steps to improve relations with Burma, had been close to
recommending that the nation be rewarded for meeting anti-drug goals that
the United States had set earlier in the year and made eligible for some
drug eradication aid. But when news of the pending decision leaked last
month, a series of negative editorials in newspapers in the United States
and Asia, along with congressional protests, persuaded officials to reverse
course, the sources said.

The final determination is still up to the White House, but few expect
President Bush to overturn the recommendation and risk congressional anger
for a regime with few friends in the world. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the
incoming Senate majority whip, sent national security adviser Condoleezza
Rice a note last month that stressed the need to maintain a tough policy on
Burma.

In an unusual move, the Burmese government announced that it had been
informed that its effort to win U.S. approval for its anti-drug efforts had
been denied. In a statement issued by its Washington lobbyist, the country,
also known as Myanmar, denounced the decision.

"The denial comes after a massive effort by Myanmar to achieve a series of
drug-eradication accomplishments, including significant decreases in opium
production and cooperation with U.S. law enforcement authorities," said the
statement, which added that "denial of U.S. certification followed an
intense media and lobbying campaign in Washington by those who favored
linking drug certification with political issues."

"Drug traffickers and their associates will be pleased with the U.S.
government's decision to remain on the sidelines in one of the world's
largest narcotics control challenges," said Hla Min, a government
spokesman. "Our regret is, without U.S. cooperation the time frame to
totally eradicate drugs in Myanmar is significantly longer."

In its statement, Burma suggested that a more rapid decrease in cutting
opium poppy production would lead to a humanitarian crisis. But Burma is
also the primary source of amphetamine-type stimulants in Asia, producing
an estimated 800 million tablets per year. There is substantial evidence --
recently detailed in the Asian edition of Time magazine -- that the
government is linked to major drug traffickers, including joint ventures
with the military and frequent meetings between traffickers and junta leaders.

"Given Burma's horrendous record on the drug front, it would have been an
unmitigated disaster to take Burma off the list of the world's worst
offenders on drugs," said Rep. Tom Lantos (Calif.), the senior Democrat on
the House International Relations Committee.

Officially, the State Department said no decision had been made. "The
announcement, I would say, is premature at best," State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher said. The Burmese government "may have formed an
impression from some conversations," he added, "but we have a final
determination to make over the next several months about whether or not
they failed demonstrably to cooperate."