MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE, YANGON
Information Sheet
N0. C- 2764( I/L )
11th September, 2003

Government Of Myanmar Once Again Urges The United States To Abandon Its Ongoing Destructive Engagement In Myanmar

 In light of the revelations over the weekend that the claim made by the United States on 31 August in Myanmar's internal matters was a fabrication, the U.S. State Department spokesman on Monday, 8 September 2003, still said that the information received one week ago which was the base of the false claim was "credible" and that the United States acted "appropriately". This continued claim is incredibly more claiming. The world will be the judge of such types of attitude and actions of the most powerful country on earth towards a small peaceful nation.

The Spokesman further stated that some conditions in Myanmar are unacceptable. The Government of Myanmar once again wishes to remind the United States Government of Myanmar's independence and sovereignty and that the future of Myanmar would not be determined by a foreign government. Nevertheless, we always appreciate and welcome any useful pragmatic advice and constructive comments they may want to share.

The Government of Myanmar hopes that the false claim of last week by the United States Government and the more recent ridiculous claim made on 10th September, 2003, by totally ignoring Myanmar's all-out effort, cooperation and participation in the national, regional and international levels and accusing Myanmar of failing to take steps to stop " human trafficking such as forcing people to work or engage in sexual acts against their will", would shed light to the international community of years of relentless pressure being applied on Myanmar and disinformation of matters related to Myanmar.

Rather than trying to demonize the Myanmar Government and isolate the people of Myanmar from the global democratic community we urge the United States to welcome Myanmar as partner and join the people of Myanmar in our peaceful and stable political transition to a democracy. It is a worthy goal for both of our countries.

The Government of Myanmar also firmly believes that knowledge rather than rhetoric and that cooperation rather than confrontation is the path to progress. We again urge the United States to join in the development of emerging democracies around the world and help lay the foundation for a smooth transition to democracy.