Burma/Myanmar dissidents offer junta reconciliation plan

Exiled Myanmar dissidents Thursday unveiled a proposal for a democratic transition and reconciliation in the military-ruled country, offering the junta an 'exit strategy'.

Members of Myanmar's self-proclaimed government in exile and democracy activists met in the Indonesian capital Jakarta Wednesday and Thursday to endorse of the compromise proposal.

Organisers said Wednesday the Indonesian police tried to stop the meeting following pressure from the embassy of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

The Proposal for National Reconciliation Towards Democracy and Development in Burma called for the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the declaration of a nationwide ceasefire among groups involved in civil war.

Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years and on Tuesday she received an additional 18 months of house detention for violating the terms of her house arrest after an uninvited US citizen swam to her lakeside home in May.

The proposal also called for a dialogue to discuss revisions to a newly drafted constitution, which the activists said contained provisions against democratic principles, and measures to transform military administration into civilian rule.

Bo Hla Tint, the foreign minister for the government in-exile, said the proposal could be seen as an 'exit strategy' plan for the military regime.

'It's a practical solution for Burma. A constitutional dialogue will discuss how the military can be part of the democratic process peacefully,' he said.

He called on the international community to pressure the military regime to accept the proposal.

Myanmar's government-in- exile was set up in 1990 by Sein Win and other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, after the military junta refused to recognize the party's election victory that year.

Bo Hla Tint said the exiled government would consider taking part in an election, scheduled by the junta for next year, if Suu Kyi and some other 2,000 political prisoners were released.

Khin Ohmar, member of the Forum for Democracy in Burma, said the Myanmar situation had taken the Association of the South-East Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, hostage.

'It's time for action. As long as the people of Burma are still suffering, the region will not move forward,' she said.