From: zmhasan@neumann.waterloo.edu (Z. Masum Hasan)
Subject: Saudi general on Burma issue
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 01:42:52 GMT


From: apakabar@IGC.ORG (Indonesia Publications/Task Force)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l

    Reuter, Dhaka, Anis Ahmed, April 15 - A Saudi general, accusing Burma of
genocide, has recommended the United Nations use its full weight to
pressure Rangoon to take back Moslem nationals who are fleeing in their
tens of thousands to Bangladesh.
    The United Nations should employ the same resolve it used in
opposing Iraq's invasion of Kuwait to solve the Burmese refugee crisis,
said Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, commander of the Saudi
army contingent of U.N. forces in the Gulf War.
    "I think the United Nations should do for them just what it did to
liberate Kuwait," he said.
    Khaled left Dhaka on Tuesday after a four-day trip to Bangladesh
during which he visited refugee camps where more than 200,000 Burmese
Moslems, known as Rohingyas, have taken shelter after fleeing alleged
torture by Rangoon's army.
    Khaled, who visited several military installations during his visit
to Bangladesh, described the persecution of the Rohingyas by Rangoon as
genocide.
    "Saudi Arabia condemns the forced labour, imprisonment and genocide
being committed against Moslems in Myanmar (Burma)," BSS quoted him as
saying.
    The prince demanded an immediate end to the tragedy, saying: "It is
not too much to ask that all Rohingyas be repatriated, their civil and
political rights as full citizens of Burma be recognised and they be
compensated for the losses due to forcible eviction.
    "Burma has deployed thousands of troops on its border with
Bangladesh to prevent the return of Rohingyas to their rightful homes."
    Dhaka has handed over to Rangoon lists of more than 87,000 Rohingyas
to prepare for their repatriation, a foreign ministry official said on
Monday.




    Reuter, Beijing, April 15 - China made clear on Wednesday it would
not intervene on behalf of tens of thousands of Moslems flooding into
Bangladesh from Burma to escape persecution by the military government.
    Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, in a meeting
with his Chinese counterpart Qian Qichen on Monday, appealed to Beijing
to use its influence over Rangoon's government to help the refugees.
    According to an account of the meeting by the Iranian news agency
IRNA, Velayati called on China to urge Rangoon to stop persecuting
Moslems.
    He urged Qian "to exploit his good offices with the government in
Myanmar (Burma) to stop the banishment of Moslems in that country so
that dislodged Moslems can return home," the news agency said.
    Asked to comment on the report, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
said on Wednesday:
    "We always hope that Myanmar and Bangladesh will through direct
dialogue and conversation make a proper settlement of the issue that has
arisen recently on the boundary of the two countries."
    China maintains that its foreign policy is based on the principle of
non-interference.
    China is Burma's closest friend and main supplier of arms, but it is
coming under increasing pressure to abandon its ally and join
international efforts to isolate Rangoon and halt military sales.
    Western diplomats say China has supplied fighter jets, tanks and
other heavy weapons to Burma.
    There is no sign that Beijing will yield to pressure.


Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh