THE US yesterday imposed economic sanctions on Burma banning new investments by American companies in the military-ruled south-east Asian country.
The move came after Washington failed to win support from Asian governments for a multilateral effort to press Burma to stop persecuting dissidents and ethnic minorities.
The sanctions allow existing agreements to remain in place.
The US is the fourth largest foreign investor in Burma, led by oil companies Unocal, Texaco and Arco.
Ms Madeleine Albright, US secretary of state, said. "The decision is based on the president's judgment that the repression by the military authorities of the democratic opposition in Burma has deepened . . . and that a state of large-scale repression exists.
In Burma, Mr Khin Nyunt, a senior member of the ruling military junta, Slorc (State Law and Order Restoration Council). said the government had no plans to start a dialogue with the democratic opposition. "We don't have anything to reconsider because we are walking in a straight line. We have decided we will not stray from our course."
The White House has been under pressure from Congress to enact the sanctions, which were passed last year, and called for a ban on new investment if the junta stepped up its repression.
Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's Nobel prize-winning democracy leader and the recent target of a military-organised attack, has long advocated sanctions.
Washington's decision comes as Rangoon prepares for its expected entry into the Association of South-East Nations, a regional bloc which has consistently urged the US administration to abandon sanctions.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Commission passed a resolution denouncing rights violations by Burma's military rulers including extra-judicial, summary and arbitrary executions deaths in custody, torture, arbitrary arrests and forced child labour.
The European Union recently revoked Burma's trade privileges states and cities in the US have prohibited government purchases from companies which do business in Burma and western consumer product companies have The Cambodian en-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh asked President Clinton yesterday for immediate assistance in beginning "a serious war on drugs".
In a letter. Prince Ranariddh told Mr Clinton that US Drug Enforcement Agency officers should be sent to Cambodia to control a narcotics trafficking situation which had spiralled out of control.
"Given this new, growing and sophisticated drug phenomenon, the Cambodian anti-drug authorities are unprepared and almost paralysed in some cases, needing well-trained officers and modern methods of investigation."
He said Cambodia could face heavy economic consequences" if the country continued to be a transit point for international drug dealers, including individuals known by the US government. A drug law passed in January could not be implemented without US assistance.