Burmese leader to visit

Burmese leader to visit

A Burmese democracy leader, Dr Thaung Htun, will visit Australia to participate in the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference being organised by the Asia Pacific Institute for Democratisation and Development (API) from April 9 to 13, 1998.

"We are very pleased that Dr Htun has accepted our invitation", API council member and conference organiser Max Lane told Green Left Weekly.

"Dr Htun is the head of the department of foreign affairs of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and now represents the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) at the United Nations.

"He has been an active leader of the movement against the military since 1974. After the military coup on September 18, 1988, he escaped arrest and joined the student rebels on the Thai-Burma border."

Since taking up his position in the NCGUB in 1990, Htun has been at the centre of its international activities, outlining the anti-dictatorship movement's views on the military regime's policies in the area of human rights, the drug trade, economic development and poverty alleviation. He also coordinates the NCGUB's diplomatic lobbying at the UN.

According to Lane, who is also foreign affairs spokesperson for the Democratic Socialists, the struggle against the dictatorship in Burma will feature prominently at the conference.

A discount registration for the conference of $60 ($30 concession) is available for people registering before January 30. Send cheques made to API to PO Box 458, Broadway NSW 2007.

From GLW issue 299