41.   Before leaving Rangoon, Thalman met a number of associates of Nichols but was unable to meet any official from the Burmese junta, according to the diplomatic sources.

42.   Burmese dissident groups in Japan on Wednesday denied any link to a mail bomb which killed a daughter of a Burmese junta leader in Rangoon.

43.   Burmese junta leader Than Shwe held talks with ASEAN leaders at an informal summit in Jakarta last weekend.

44.   British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind reiterated Britain was committed to the European ban on visits by Burmese junta leaders.

45.   But ASEAN nations -- notably Thailand and Singapore -- maintain cordial relations with the Burmese junta, and Japan remains a substantial investor in the country.

46.   Burmese junta troops were bracing Monday for an attack on the border town of Tachilek by troops of drug warlord Khun Sa, Thai officials said.

47.   Cambodian Co-Premiers Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, Laotian Premier Khamtay Siphandone, and Burmese military junta leader General Than Shwe were also on hand.

48.   But the Burmese junta has continued to pour reinforcements into the area.

49.   But the delegates said the United States could not ignore public concerns regarding ties with governments in flagrant violation of international norms like the Burmese junta.

50.   Christopher called on the Burmese junta to free jailed political opponents and open a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.