1 Eddie Bauer, an American retailer, announced Thursday that it will pull its business out of Burma as the military junta there pounded rebel positions along the Thai border.
2 The Thai government, meanwhile, signed an agreement to buy natural gas from Burma. UNOCAL Corp. of the United States and Total of France are to help develop the gas field.
3 Burma's pro-democracy opposition movement in Thailand called for an end to such deals, urging an international economic and military embargo against the government in Rangoon. The rebels said 15,000 refugees were seeking sanctuary in Thailand from the junta's attacks.
4 Eddie Bauer, an American sportswear company, said in a statement from Seattle that it had been studying the situation in Burma for several months.
5 'We deemed that the political climate and growing opposition to trade in Burma posed a potential threat to our future manufacturing opportunities,' it said.
6 The company, which contracts with factories in Burma to make its garments, said it would stop doing business in Burma after fulfilling its current contracts.
7 On Wednesday, Australian politicians issued a statement calling for international trade sanctions against the Burmese government for breaking a unilateral cease-fire it declared in 1992 with rebel groups that have refused to lay down their arms.
8 Last Friday, the Burmese government seized the rebel stronghold of Manerplaw, 240 kilometers (150 miles) from Rangoon along the Thai border. Manerplaw was the center of the opposition to the military junta and its loss has the rebels struggling to hang onto their smaller bases.
9 Burma's ambassador to Thailand, Tin Winn, said the government had merely supported attacks by defectors from the rebels who wanted to end the bloodshed.
10 'These breakaway groups, they want peace,' he told The Associated Press. 'Our government cannot stop these people who want to make peace.'
11 Tin Winn did not directly respond to questions about whether the world community would further isolate Burma because of the bloodshed.
12 Although the United States and other major powers have isolated Burma politically, international trade with the junta has increased as the government has undertaken market reforms over the past few years. American activists have stepped up campaigns, however, to boycott business with the junta.
13 Liz Claiborne announced late last year that it would join other American companies, including Levi Strauss, Reebok International, and Smith and Hawkins, in pulling its business out of Burma.
14 Eddie Bauer had been the target of an international campaign to further isolate the junta.
15 Aung Saoo, spokesman for the National League for Democracy, a Burmese opposition party, applauded Eddie Bauer's plan to stop dealing with the junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council.
16 'Business with SLORC is like a bullet,' Aung Saoo said.
17 He criticized Thailand for moving ahead with the gas agreement, which the rebels say could indirectly help fund the junta's war against them.
18 Thailand signed Thursday a 30-year agreement to buy 10 billion baht (dlrs 400 million) in gas each year from Burma and invest 10 billion baht (dlrs 400,000 million) in the construction of a 300-kilometer (186-mile) pipeline to bring the gas to a power plant in Thailand.
19 Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai chaired the signing ceremony, attended by the ambassador, Burmese Minister of Energy Khin Maung Thein, and Pe Kyi, managing director of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise.
20 'We are neighboring countries, so it is hard to escape contact,' Thai government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchat said. 'Thailand wants to give Burma a chance to have contact with others. It doesn't want to close the door.'
21 He said Bangkok's policy of 'constructive engagement' is aimed at helping the military junta learn from the outside world and does not indicate support for the junta. 'We don't take sides,' he said.
22 A small group of Burmese student activists staged a brief demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy in Bangkok Thursday, waving the flag of the opposition and signs saying, 'Peace for Burma' and 'We never believe in dictatorship and will never surrender to SLORC.'
23 The rebels have been fighting since 1948 for greater autonomy from the central government. They were joined in recent years by students and politicians demanding democratic reforms.

" We deemed that the political climate and growing opposition to trade in Burma posed a potential threat to our future manufacturing opportunities , " it said .
opposition to trade
Why are countries opposed to trading with Burma?