huridocs-tech AOL cancels link with Burmese Website linked to military junta

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Myanmar-US-AOL

   AOL cancels link with Burmese Website linked to military
   junta

   DULLES, Virginia, Aug 18 (AFP) - America Online has
   canceled a link with a Burmese website after learning it
   was run by Myanmar's ruling military junta which is
   blamed for widespread rights abuses, a Burmese
   pro-democracy group said Wednesday. Last week AOL decided
   to connect its Asia Forum with www.myanmar.com but has
   now canceled the deal after learning of the site's junta
   connection and "pervasive human rights violations in
   Burma," the Free Burma Coalition said. It said the
   website was mainly used to attract foreign tourists and
   also carried vitriolic attacks from the
   military-controlled press on pro-democracy militants,
   including Nobel Peace Price laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
   and Burmese refugees in Thailand. "It looked bad for an
   'information technology' company to be leading its users
   to the propaganda page of a regime that has closed the
   universities and restricted all kinds of information,
   including the Internet. To their credit, AOL reacted
   quickly," it added. The coalition said it learned about
   AOL's gaffe from an e-mail message from Myanmar's Office
   of Strategic Services (security police). ga/smb




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