The World - News from March 13, 1988

Burma’s top rebel leaders called for a political settlement of their 40-year-old insurgency and greater autonomy for the country’s ethnic minorities. The National Democratic Front, a coalition of 10 guerrilla groups that claims to have 35,000 fighters, called for peace negotiations to be conducted on neutral ground with an impartial mediator and for the United States and other nations to end their backing of President Ne Win’s regime. Although the rebels operate in a region awash in opium and heroin production, the leaders, in a meeting with journalists, denied involvement in drug trafficking. The Burmese Communist Party, which also is battling the government, is regarded by Western diplomats as a major drug trafficker.