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Saw Maung had a reputation as a Ne Win loyalist.

Slorc receives NLD assurance

Khin Nyunt met the chairman of the NLD party, but the gathering did not signal the start of a political dialogue between the two, government and NLD officials said.

The meeting between Slorc’s Secretary-One and NLD chairman Aung Shwe, as well as two other senior NLD members, was the first between military rulers and the opposition since Suu Kyi was released from six years of house arrest in July 1995.

NLD officials said the meeting was to explain to Slorc that the party and Suu Kyi were not involved in terrorist activities and that they had not received foreign financial assistance.

Asean admits Burma & Laos

On the eve of the regional grouping’s 30^th anniversary, Asean officially admitted Laos and Burma as its eighth and ninth members, bringing the founding fathers’ dream of a 10-member community one step closer.

The ceremony, however, was flawed by the exclusion of Cambodia due the ousting of Cambodian First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh by his archrival Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The Burmese delegation included Rangoon’s ambassadors to all Asean capitals, except Vietnam and Brunei. Laos killed its earlier plan for all Asean ambassadors to join the ceremony, citing budget constraints and regret over Cambodia’s exclusion.

Chettha firm on refugee policy

Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Chettha Thanajaro assured American Refugee Committee chairman Anthony Kozlowski that no refugees on the Burmese border will be forcibly repatriated.

“Mr. Kozlowski says he deeply appreciated the country’s generosity in providing humanitarian aid to refugees from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma during the past decades,” said a Thai army officer.

Shan civilians slain by Slorc

The ethnic Shan resistance faction accused Burmese troops of massacring 58 civilians in Shan state, Shan and Thai army sources said.

The Shan State Army (SSA) said in a statement that on June 6, Burmese troops arrested 26 people in Chianglom village of Kunhing district. The troops said the people had relocated without permission and subsequently all 26 villagers were tied up and shot dead at close range, the statement said.

The SSA is a loose grouping of fighters who broke away from Khun Sa’s former Mong Tai Army before the former opium warlord surrendered to Rangoon in January 1996.

US city approves anti-Slorc curbs

Santa Cruz, California passed a law banning transaction deals with companies that do business in Burma.

The “Free Burma Law,” effectively bars contracts with companies doing business in Burma by giving a 10 per cent bidding preference to companies that do not.

Santa Cruz joins other American cities, counties and states — including Berkeley, Madison, Santa Monica, San Francisco, AlamedaCounty, and the state of Massachusetts — that have passed similar rulings.