Myanmar constitution talks close until late 2006
Afp, Yangon
Myanmar's military rulers on Tuesday adjourned constitutional talks until later this year, delegates said, as diplomats in Yangon questioned the junta's commitment to implementing any democratic reforms. An ethnic leader and delegate quoted the chairman of the talks, Lieutenant General Thein Sein, as saying: "The National Convention will be resumed at the end of this year." The delegate, who declined to be identified, speculated that Thein Sein meant December. Another delegate confirmed that the talks had adjourned, adding they would resume "by the end of the year." The junta says the talks on drawing up a new constitution are the first step in its self-proclaimed "road map" to democracy for a nation which has been ruled by the military since 1962. The talks have been held sporadically for more than a decade but have been condemned internationally for failing to include opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
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