Australia aids Burmese army, as part of War on Terror
The Federal government has admitted that it has entered into an agreement with the military regime in Burma to provide counter-terrorism training for government officials. The officials are taking courses at the Australian run Centre for law enforcement in Jakarta. The revelation has been condemned by the ALP and Burmese pro-democracy activists who say it’s unethical to offer training and co-operation to a military dictatorship. The Burmese government has refused to hold elections since 1990 and has kept the opposition leader under house arrest for most of the last decade. Maung Maung Than from the Australian Coalition for democracy in Burma has been living in Sydney as a refugee since 1988. He says the decision should be reversed immediately.