November 10, 2003	Monday	Ramazan 14, 1424

WASHINGTON, Nov 9: The United States is accusing Myanmar’s feared military intelligence service of eavesdropping on, filming and tapping the phones of its diplomats, frustrating their work to improve human rights.

The allegations are contained in a new State Department report on US activities designed to support democracy activists in the Myanmar, the former Burma.

“Surveillance and eavesdropping on foreign diplomats” hamper efforts of the US embassy in Yangon to engage with the opposition of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) other political groups and even members of the government, the report says.

“The movements and conversations of US and other diplomats in Burma are assumed to be heavily monitored at all times by Burmese Military Intelligence,” the report said.

“Telephones and unclassified e-mail lines are tapped, Burmese mail is read, diplomats are physically followed on a frequent basis.” The report also claims that military intelligence is “known to have filmed US persons in hotel rooms.”

It says that government officials must have meetings with US diplomats prior approved and private Myanmar citizens who meet American diplomats are normally interrogated by Military Intelligence.

“Household staff and foreign national employees of the Mission are pressured by Military Intelligence to report on the activities of US diplomats,” the report added.—AFP