Citing Burmese Unrest, U.S. Suspends Its Aid

WASHINGTON —  The Reagan Administration suspended its $12.2-million aid program to Burma on Thursday because of the five-day-old military government’s inability to maintain order, the State Department announced.

The suspension came as Burma’s opposition leaders rebuffed renewed military bids to draw them into cooperating in electoral politics.

“In light of the current unsettled political conditions in Burma, we are unable to continue our assistance programs there for the time being,” the State Department said in a written statement.

Only Humanitarian Aid

“Accordingly, we are halting further aid other than emergency humanitarian assistance until conditions permit a resumption (of government-to-government programs),” the department said. “We hope that will be soon, and we look forward to renewing cooperation.”

For the current fiscal year, U.S. aid--minuscule compared to that given most nations--totaled $7 million for rural development programs, $5 million for anti-narcotics programs and $260,000 for military training.

In Rangoon, meanwhile, the military government called on the opposition politicians to “cooperate with us to achieve . . . peace and tranquility,” pledging multi-party elections once order is restored and promising opposition access to government-controlled radio and television in an electoral campaign.

But “we are not going to do anything about it at the moment,” declared Aung San Suu Kyi after discussing the proposal with Aung Gyi and Tin Oo, also leading foes of the government.

Except for the promise of access to radio and TV, the wording of the letter was nearly identical to a radio broadcast Sunday by Saw Maung, who earlier that day had led a military takeover.

The opposition, meanwhile, has little room to maneuver on negotiations because too much blood was spilled in the army’s repression of protests against the takeover.

Suu Kyi, 43, the daughter of Burma’s independence leader Aung San, told a reporter in Rangoon: “All the people are still very united against it. They want democracy. . . . You can’t go on suppressing a popular movement by just shooting people down.” She called the military offer “hypocritical.”

An aide to Tin Oo, once Burma’s defense minister, explained the opposition’s predicament.

“The problem is,” he said, “if we do not take part in the elections, the present party (strongman Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Program Party) will come in under another name, and they will be the only runners in the race. . . . If we agree to their advice and some parties register and take part in the elections, we will be betraying the students and workers who have been struggling all along and who have suffered a great deal.”

The military has crushed street protests against its rule over the last five days, and the pro-democracy student movement shows increasing signs of turning radical.

Official Rangoon Radio repeatedly has reported incidents of students and workers storming police stations in search of arms. On Tuesday, it reported, protesters were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

“I believe fighting will continue, but with students outnumbered and outgunned we may see a period of guerrilla war and terrorism,” a Western diplomat in Rangoon said.

Diplomats cited unconfirmed reports of continued violence in Mandalay, 350 miles to the north, and in Moulmein, an historic southern port and center of Burma’s rebellious Mon people.

In Rangoon, there have been no major demonstrations since Monday. Despite a threat to fire government workers who do not return to work by Oct. 3, a new deadline, none had come back by Thursday.

“As long as the government is using oppressive methods . . . I don’t think they will succeed in getting the government machinery running again,” Suu Kyi said.

Kempster contributed to this article from Washington and Williams from Bangkok, Thailand.