Burmese junta accuses US

Rangoon - The Burmese junta yesterday accused the US of pushing relations to their "lowest ebb" and ignoring what it called democratic…

Rangoon - The Burmese junta yesterday accused the US of pushing relations to their "lowest ebb" and ignoring what it called democratic developments.

"Frankly speaking, the current state of United States-Myanmar relations are at their lowest ebb," the Burmese ambassador to Washington, Mr Tin Winn, told the state-controlled Myanmar Monitor journal. Myanmar is the regime's name for Burma.

"We wish to restore our traditionally good relations with the United States. However, it takes two to tango," he said.

The US has led an international drive to limit trade with Burma, banning all new investment in 1997 amid a chorus of complaints about human rights abuses under the military regime.