May 21, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18,1424

DHAKA, May 20: Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday opened their first border talks in 10 years and agreed to take steps against weapons smuggling, officials said here.

The three-day meeting in Dhaka was also focusing on problems faced by Bangladeshi fishermen in the Bay of Bengal, the officials said.

“We have agreed to ensure to stop smuggling of weapons,” Major General Mohammad Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, chief of the Bangladesh Rifles border force, told reporters.

“We don’t know its source, but we will work against such activities,” he said.

The border talks, the first between the countries since a round in Yangon in 1993, comes after a visit to Myanmar in March by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and a trip here last year by Myanmar’s leader Senior General Than Shwe.

The visiting delegation is headed by U Maung Htay, director general of Myanmar’s immigration department, while the 12-member Bangladeshi team is headed by Chowdhury.—AFP