Myanmar to resume constitution drafting convention

YANGON, Sep 3 (Reuters) Myanmar's military rulers planned to reconvene its constitution drafting convention in October after a 10-month recess amid new efforts by the United States to launch a debate on its authoritarian rule at the United Nations Security Council.

''The fourth National Convention will be held in the second week of October 2006,'' Convention Convening Commission Chairman Lieutenant General Thein Sein was quoted as saying by state-run papers today.

''With the participation of over 1,000 delegates discussing the future of the State, the National Convention is the only genuine forum,'' he said.

The United States asked the UN Security Council on Friday to deal with Myanmar, whose junta government has jailed opponents, persecuted minorities and sent refugees fleeing into neighbouring states.

Washington had sought to put Myanmar on the council's agenda in May. But it backed off later after opposition from several council members and settled for briefings from UN officials.

''Detailed basic principles on communications between the House of Parliament, the role of the armed forces, fundamental rights and responsibilities of citizens will be laid down at the forthcoming convention,'' Thein Sein told the Myanma Ahlin Daily.

The Myanmar military, which has run the Southeast Asian nation under various guises since 1962, says the convention is key to a seven-stage ''roadmap to democracy'' laid out in 2003 by former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was purged in October 2004.

Western governments, analysts and diplomats say it is nothing but a smokescreen to preserve the generals' grip on power, especially while opposition figures such as Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remain under house arrest.

Critics point to a key objective of the convention which ensures a ''leadership role'' for the army in politics.

The military started the national convention process in early 1993 but never committed to a schedule to conclude the exercise boycotted by major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

REUTERS AKJ BST1223