April 9, 2005
Annan Urges Myanmar to 'Expedite' Reforms
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 


NITED NATIONS, April 8 (AP) - Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday urged Myanmar's military government to set a timetable for democratic changes. 
Frustration has been growing among Myanmar's neighbors and other countries over the government's rampant human rights abuses and the slow pace of democratic change.
On Friday, members of the legal community in Myanmar, formerly Burma, said 38 military intelligence officers associated with a former government were given long prison terms.
The officers, linked to an ousted prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, were sentenced Thursday by a special court in the capital, Yangon, said the sources in the legal community, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concern for their safety.
The officers were said to have been convicted on charges that included bribery and corruption, illegal possession of weapons, as well as violations of foreign exchange, import-export and telegraphic communications laws, and then sentenced to prison for 20 to 100 years.
General Khin Nyunt's ouster was widely believed to have been engineered by hard-line members of the junta who were opposed to his more liberal approach to the pro-democracy movement led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
At the United Nations, Mr. Annan said it was important to clarify the government's position after last week's adjournment of the country's constitution-drafting convention. Writing a constitution is one of seven steps in the transition to democracy that the junta agreed to in 2003.
Many officials in the region say Myanmar should not be allowed to assume the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian nations next year unless the junta frees Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and pushes forward with promised democratic changes. Foreign ministers of the Asean members are scheduled to discuss the issue next week at a meeting in the Philippines.
Mr. Annan encouraged Myanmar's authorities to heed the friendly advice of the Asean members to expedite its reform process, said a United Nations spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.
Mr. Annan reiterated his call for the government to lift the remaining constraints on all political leaders, to allow the offices of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to reopen and to free all political prisoners.