News & Articles on Burma, Saturday, 04 July 2009
Jul 4th, 2009
Than Shwe Denies Ban’s Request to See Suu Kyi
Burma’s Frustrated Generation Looks Abroad
U.N.’s Ban denied Suu Kyi meeting
A united message to Burma on human rights abuses
Allies in Paranoia and Repression
U.N. barred from visiting Aung San Suu Kyi
Myanmar junta snubs UN secretary-general
Ban Ki-moon ‘deeply disappointed’ at rejection of Aung San Suu Kyi visit request
Myanmar Junta Blocks UN’s Ban From Meeting Aung San Suu Kyi
Myanmar junta blocks UN chief from meeting Suu Kyi
Thai prime minister to meet UN secretary-general
Weekly Business Roundup (July 4, 2009)
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Than Shwe Denies Ban’s Request to See Suu Kyi
By JOHN HEILPRIN / AP WRITER Saturday, July 4, 2009
RANGOON — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday he was “deeply disappointed” after Burma’s military ruler rejected his second and final request to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban met with Snr-Gen Than Shwe for another inconclusive round of talks that failed to win any immediate concessions or accomplish one of the main goals of his trip—to see Suu Kyi in jail.
In this image released by the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) meets with former armed groups at the Myat Taw Win Hotel in Naypyidaw. (Photo: AFP)
“I pressed as hard as I could,” Ban told reporters. “I had hoped that he would agree to my request, but it is regrettable that he did not.”
Their meeting took place in Naypyidaw, the junta’s remote administrative capital, and lasted about 30 minutes. Ban then flew to Rangoon and was scheduled to leave Burma on Saturday evening.
Ban said the junta chief told him repeatedly that “he really wanted to agree to my request” but because Suu Kyi was on trial he did not want to be seen as interfering with the judicial process—or being pressured by the outside world.
“I am deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity,” Ban said.
Suu Kyi has been detained by the ruling generals for nearly 14 of the past 20 years and is now on trial charged with violating her house arrest. She faces five years in prison if convicted in a trial that has sparked global outrage.
Ban embarked on the two-day trip saying he hoped to win freedom for Suu Kyi but predicted it would be “a very tough mission.”
The UN chief talked for two hours Friday with Than Shwe, who rarely meets with world leaders. He left that meeting saying his initial request to see Suu Kyi was not granted but he was still awaiting a final reply.
It was Ban’s second visit to Burma since Cyclone Nargis devastated much of the country last year. His first visit managed to persuade the military government to ease access for hundreds of foreign aid workers who had been restricted from entering cyclone-affected areas. He also oversaw a conference that raised up to $150 million in emergency relief funds.
However, the UN has been unable to budge the junta on its refusal to free its estimated 2,100 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
Ban was scheduled to fly over the cyclone-devastated zone Saturday afternoon and then meet with foreign diplomats in Rangoon before leaving.
Suu Kyi’s widely criticized trial was set to resume after a monthlong delay on Friday, the same day the UN chief arrived. But the court met for a brief session to adjourn until July 10.
In May, Suu Kyi was charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an uninvited American man swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.
Suu Kyi is being detained at Burma’s notorious Insein Prison, where 53-year-old John William Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri, the intruder who is charged with trespassing, also is being held.
The trial has sparked outrage from world leaders, other Nobel laureates, human rights groups and Hollywood celebrities who say the military-controlled government is using the bizarre incident as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi behind bars through elections scheduled for 2010.
The elections are part of the junta’s “roadmap to democracy,” which critics say is a sham designed to cement the military’s four-decade grip on power.
Ban said he also urged Than Shwe to “accelerate the process of democratization” in talks Friday.
Senior UN officials who participated in Friday’s talks described them as far-ranging, with “a lot of back and forth” between the world’s top diplomat and the military rulers.
Than Shwe was accompanied by four other generals and the foreign minister, among others in his entourage. Ban kept a few aides by his side, though he prefers one-on-one talks with world leaders in contrast to Than Shwe—who also refuses to take Ban’s phone calls.
Suu Kyi’s opposition party won national elections in 1990, but Burma’s generals refused to relinquish power. Her latest six-year round of house arrest was to expire last month.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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Burma’s Frustrated Generation Looks Abroad
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Saturday, July 4, 2009
RANGOON — Armed with a law degree from the University of East Rangoon, 22-year-old Win is clear-eyed about his job prospects: Practically speaking, there are none. For him, the future lies overseas.
Abroad there is “some hope, some opportunity. But in our country, there’s no hope left,” said Win, who is applying to go to Australia for further studies.
Unlike the students who hit the streets in 1988 in big demonstrations against the military government, the generation now emerging from college is focused on avoiding political activism, learning English and seeking opportunities in a world they have come to know through TV and the Internet.
Two decades ago, it was very difficult to emigrate from the country. Today it’s much easier, and every day long lines of people, many of them students, form outside the government office that issues passports.
There are no solid statistics, but historian Thant Myint-U estimates the number of emigrants over the past couple decades is in the millions.
“The main way young people express their unhappiness today is to leave the country. Before there was no possibility of emigration. That is a huge change. … For more and more young people inside, their first desire is find work abroad,” said the historian, who lives in Thailand and is author of “The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma.”
“We are frustrated by the lifestyle, the opportunities and the politics here. But we don’t care too much about political things because we can’t do anything to change the situation. So we avoid it, we try to escape it,” said Win, a thin lanky youth who spends his free time playing computer games. Like most people interviewed in Burma, he chose not to give his full name for fear of angering authorities.
The government has labored long and hard to disempower a university system that once produced its strongest opponents. It was students who led the August 1988 uprising that brought tens of thousands into the streets, only to be crushed by military might.
Authorities set out to fragment the student body, moving colleges at least 15 kilometers (10 miles) out of cities and forcing students to find their own housing rather than live together on campus and find strength in numbers.
Elite Rangoon University, which nurtured independence leader Aung San and the late UN Secretary General U Thant, was closed for several years and reopened as Yangon University, the new name the generals had given to the city of Rangoon.
Many of the university’s buildings are in disrepair, and only a small number of graduate and doctoral students attend classes; undergraduates are not admitted.
Aung San’s daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, is Burma’s modern-day symbol of the democracy struggle. She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, and went on trial last month, accused of violating the terms of her house arrest.
Student activists from the ‘88 generation managed to make their voices heard again in 2007 in the uprising led by Buddhist monks, and last fall many of them were given prison sentences of 65 years.
Experts insist student political action has not died out, but has largely shifted to “low-risk activism” or gone underground because of the military government’s repression.
There is still a “widespread dissident movement” inside the country that includes student groups, bloggers, monks and others, but their activities are much less centrally organized, said David Mathieson, a Burma researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.
There’s no direct confrontation, but there are “still a lot of activities by people who are either directly trying to challenge the government or just by people who are trying to get on with their lives and do a whole range of things,” he said.
Students concerned with the country’s politics know better than to voice it publicly.
“I really care about politics and the future of the country but I feel I am not free to participate. Sometimes we talk politics in cafes but we have to careful. Even walls have ears,” said Wai, a 23-year-old graduate who majored in English.
Students today have much more exposure to the outside world through the Internet, television and movies, said Naing, a 40-year-old teacher at a private school in Rangoon.
“They can see more of the world than during my time. They know their country’s problems. That’s the big problem—everyone wants to leave,” he said.
Another teacher, 48-year-old Maung, runs a private English language school and says most of his 85 students come wanting to learn enough English to function abroad. They head for neighboring Singapore and Thailand, and dream of the West, he said.
“They like America because it’s so free,” he said. “Even my son and daughter, they both want to go abroad if they have the chance.
The future is so dark here.”
Even with a college degree, most students have little hope of landing a decent-paying job if they stay in the country, said Myat, 22, a Dagon University graduate with spiky brown hair and a diamond ear stud.
The few jobs available are low-paid—$50-100 a month. International non-governmental organizations pay double or triple, but only hire top students.
Overall, the situation remains bleak, said Myat, so he too is applying to study abroad.
“When we see students in other countries, we feel envy,” he said. “They can choose whatever they want to do in their life.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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U.N.’s Ban denied Suu Kyi meeting
Reuters
By Louis Charbonneau Louis Charbonneau – Sat Jul 4, 4:10 am ET
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday he was “deeply disappointed” that military-ruled Myanmar’s top general had rejected his request to meet with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban, who was made to wait overnight for the decision, said he pressed junta supremo Than Shwe but was told that Suu Kyi was on trial and the regime did not want to be seen to interfere with the judicial process.
“I’m deeply disappointed,” Ban told reporters after his 30-minute meeting with the regime’s reclusive 76-year-old leader.
“I think they have missed a very important opportunity of demonstrating their willingness to commit to continuing reconciliation with all political leaders.
“I pressed as hard as I could as a way of committing themselves to this (democratisation) process,” he said.
Ban requested the visit during a rare meeting on Friday with Than Shwe, but he left the two-hour session with no clear answer.
Suu Kyi, who has spearheaded the campaign for democracy for two decades in the former Burma, is currently on trial for breaching terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay at her home on May 4.
Critics have dismissed her hearing as a show trial and an attempt by the generals to keep her out of multi-party elections to be held next year.
Suu Kyi’s trial was adjourned on Friday until July 10 because of a clerical error by the court, according to her lawyer.
NO GUARANTEES
The secretary-general said he urged the regime to drop the charges against Suu Kyi and other political leaders, but received no guarantees.
“It is a setback to the international community’s efforts to provide a helping hand to Myanmar at this time,” he said.
Ban, one of the few top world figures the Myanmar supremo is willing to meet, also presented Than Shwe with a number of proposals to help the development of democracy.
He asked for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners ahead of the polls, the opening of real dialogue between the government and opposition, and the creating of conditions conducive to free and fair elections.
Ban said the junta leader expressed his commitment to ensuring the elections were “free and credible.”
A U.N. official also said the delegation had urged the Senior General to accept international monitors.
However, it was not immediately known if Than Shwe agreed to all of Ban’s requests, but the U.N. chief said he was optimistic political prisoners would be freed to take part in elections.
“I believe they are very seriously considering releasing political prisoners, if not soon, at the latest before the beginning of this election,” he said.
A U.N official said on condition of anonymity that Than Shwe told the delegation that next time Ban visits the country, he and his generals would all be civilians.
“When you come back I will be an ordinary citizen, a lay person and my colleagues will too, because it will be a civilian government,” the official quoted Than Shwe as telling Ban.
The U.N. visit was the lead story in Myanmar’s state-controlled media on Saturday, with three dailies splashing pictures of Ban’s meeting with Than Shwe on the front and back pages.
MRTV broke the news of the visit locally at 8 p.m. on Friday, showing repeat footage of smiles, handshakes and uniformed generals meeting the U.N. delegation, with no mention of what was discussed.
In London, Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the Myanmar authorities on Friday to halt Suu Kyi’s trial, which “made mockery of justice” and “undermines their credibility in the eyes of the world.”
Ban himself had described his current second visit to Myanmar as a “very tough mission” and made clear he was not expecting radical changes overnight in a country that has been ruled by a military junta for 47 years.
He had expressed concern his trip could be used by the ruling generals for propaganda purposes but he decided to go anyway, hoping his knack for quiet diplomacy would persuade the generals to compromise, as they did last year when Ban convinced them to lift humanitarian aid restrictions after Cyclone Nargis.
The secretary-general is also expected to give a speech in Yangon later Saturday to 500 people, among them state officials, diplomats and opposition politicians, in which he will outline his vision for a democratic Myanmar.
(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun in Yangon; writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Valerie Lee)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/
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A united message to Burma on human rights abuses
(03/07/2009)
Aung San Suu Kyi (Getty Images)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon travelled to Burma today to put pressure on Burma to release the pro democracy leader Aung San Su Kyi. His visit is part of wider international pressure being applied to Burma by governments worldwide, sending a united message to Burma that human rights abuses, particularly of minorities in Burma, need to come to an end.
Commenting on the visit Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis said:
“We strongly support his mission. We want to see the immediate release of Aung San Su Kyi, the other two thousand one hundred political prisoners. And we want him to send a strong message from the international community that the human rights abuses, particularly of minorities in Burma need to come to an end and we want to see a road map to reform in time for the 2010 elections. So he has our full support and he will be delivering tough messages.”
He added:
“It is a tough mission. We believe in the man, we believe in his office and we believe if ever there was a test of the United Nations relevance Burma is that test. That’s why we’ve been strongly supportive of the mission, that’s why we believe he’s doing absolutely the right thing and it’s also why our Prime Minister for example only recently spoke directly to the President of China because it’s very important that Burma’s friends and neighbours also send a clear and strong message about the abuse, human rights abuses, and also about political prisoners.”
Read the transcript
The Prime Minister’s wife Sarah Brown has also joined high profile women from around the world calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. She has joined fifty First Ladies, Nobel Laureates and leaders from the world of politics, human rights and the arts to issue a 64 word message.
The message reads:
“Aung San Suu Kyi inspires us all. In recent weeks regional leaders have led demands for her freedom and for reform in Burma. Today we – women from all around the world – add our voices to that call. Until she, and the thousands of other political prisoners in Burma, are released we must keep the spotlight on their plight. The world must not stand by.”
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/
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Allies in Paranoia and Repression
by Kay Seok and David Scott Mathieson
Posted July 3, 2009 in the Far Eastern Economic Review
http://www.feer.com/
The U.S. Navy shadowing a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying weapons bound for Burma is the stuff of potboiler thrillers. Yet for two of the world’s most reclusive and repressive states, the only unique feature of these events is the fact that anyone is taking notice. For several years, Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Kim Jong Il’s government in North Korea have been slowly strengthening their diplomatic and military ties, largely beneath the international radar. U.S. monitoring of the North Korean freighter Kang Nam, as part of newly introduced United Nations Security Council sanctions, comes on the heels of recent allegations that North Korean engineers have been assisting the Burmese military with the construction of underground bunkers, either for a nuclear program or as the result of paranoia over a feared but illusory future U.S. invasion. Indeed, there might be no other country better positioned to offer such know-how, as North Korea has a long history of building underground bunkers and tunnels, including a few across the inter-Korea border that have since been discovered and sealed by South Korea.
That the freighter has now turned around and is heading back to North Korea doesn’t resolve the issue of what is on the ship and what its purpose would be in Burma. It raises more questions about bilateral defense links between the two countries.
North Korea has earned notoriety and opprobrium for misallocating vast sums of money in one of the world’s poorest countries to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Its nuclear ambitions hit the headlines again last week, with media in South Korea and Japan reporting that the Kim Jong Il regime may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile across the Pacific. Apparently as part of its effort to grab attention, North Korea also reminded the world of the depth of its repressive apparatus when it sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of “reform through labor” for illegal entry and another unspecified “crime against the state” after a closed-door trial.
Burma’s nuclear ambitions are far murkier and less developed. Burma’s arms suppliers have always been eclectic, ranging from predictable sources like China, Russia, and Singapore to others such as Ukraine, South Africa and Serbia. North Korea has entered the frame in the past few years as it has provided multiple launch rocket systems, artillery and military advisors, including the tunneling experts. Relations between the two countries have improved since 2007, when formal diplomatic ties were reestablished for the first time since they were severed in 1983 after North Korean agents assassinated several members of the South Korean government in a bomb blast in Burma’s then capitol Rangoon.
The specter of two reclusive and repressive regimes moving closer together would hardly be worth mentioning if not for the fact that one has nuclear weapons – and the other seems to want them. Heightening the security concerns is the fact that both dictatorships can operate in the dark as neither has a free press, civil society or public opinion to hold them to account. Both governments use the basic tactics of violence, censorship, fear, poverty, privation, and isolation to remain in power – and make it hard for outsiders to know what is happening in the country.
In Burma, although the military government is more open to U.N. agencies, relief groups, tourists and investors, the suppression of all forms of domestic dissent is nearly total. Aung San Suu Kyi’s bizarre trial after an American swam across a lake and entered her home should remind us that there are 2,100 other political prisoners in the country. Each time Burma’s leaders launch military operations against domestic armed ethnic groups, its record of widespread and systematic attacks against civilians comes into view. Living standards inside Burma continue to deteriorate for the majority of the population.
In North Korea, political repression is so severe that there is no prominent opposition leader such as Aung San Suu Kyi. Indeed, since the foundation of the North Korean state in 1948, there has been no large-scale public rally known to the outside world that called for freedom, democracy and protection of basic human rights. North Korea is the world’s expert on collective punishment: If one member of a family commits an offense of a political nature it is the norm for three generations of the entire family to be sent to a prison camp for life or, if they are more fortunate, to a remote, mountainous area where food is scarce and life unimaginably hard.
The world’s security concerns and the need for human rights improvements, particularly freedom of expression and information, are therefore inextricably linked in both countries. Instead of only dealing with each country when it commits outrages or hits the 24-hour news cycle, the world needs to make the plight of some of the world’s longest suffering citizens a consistent priority.
Burma and North Korea share one other key dimension. China is the central external player in both countries. China is the biggest trading partner for each country and has long provided crucial political support. It is now frustrated with both: with North Korea for breaking its commitments in “six-party talks,” and with Burma for embarrassing it by failing to make even minimal attempts to discuss reform with Aung San Suu Kyi and other political opponents.
China should use its diplomatic, political and economic tools to press Burma’s ruling generals and North Korea’s Kim Jong Il to rethink the destructive and dangerous paths that each is on. It should support efforts to uncover the full extent of military links between Naypyidaw and Pyongyang, from nuclear technology right down to the small arms that form the backbone of the tyranny to which the people of both countries suffer.
China should also empower the United Nations and its Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, to play an active role. Mr. Ban will visit Burma this week to press for political reform and the release of political prisoners. As a South Korean, he has a deep understanding of North Korea that should be deployed by the rest of the world. But without clear support from China, in public as well as in private, his efforts will fail. If China wants to be seen as a responsible global citizen, it must lead efforts to tackle the brotherhood of paranoia and repression that threatens people in both Burma and North Korea – and the rest of Asia.
Kay Seok and David Scott Mathieson are the North Korea and Burma researchers at Human Rights Watch.
To view Human Rights Watch’s work on Burma, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/asia/burma.
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U.N. barred from visiting Aung San Suu Kyi
Published: July 4, 2009 at 6:29 AM
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar, July 4 (UPI) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday he’s been turned down in his bid to visit Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban told reporters traveling with him in Myanmar that the country’s ruling military junta rebuffed his request to see Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, CNN reported.
Ban made the comments after meeting with junta leader Than Shwe. The U.N. leader was in Myanmar at the invitation of the government for talks with officials, the U.S. broadcaster said. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Suu Kyi has been on trial for subversion in connection with a May 3 incident in which an American man swam across a lake to her house and stayed for at least a night.
The secretary-general’s trip to the country formerly known as Burma is intended to convince the generals to release Suu Kyi and other political prisoners before the general election next year. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for much of the past two decades.
“This election should be a credible, fair, inclusive and legitimate one where all the Myanmar people can express their will in a free way,” Ban said. “I was assured that Myanmar’s authorities will make sure that this election will be held in fair and free and transparent manner.”
Suu Kyi is being held in Insein Prison.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/
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Myanmar junta snubs UN secretary-general
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, is escorted by Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win shortly after his arrival at the airport in Yangon. AP
IANS
First Published : 04 Jul 2009 02:55:56 PM IST
Last Updated :
YANGON: The Myanmar junta Saturday snubbed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s requests to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, or even to visit the Nobel peace laureate, who is currently in a Yangon jail, sources said.
Ban arrived in Yangon midday Saturday from Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s military headquarters, 350 km north of Yangon, where the UN chief met twice with junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.
Ban asked Than Shwe to free Suu Kyi, 64, and some 2,100 other political prisoners prior to a planned general election next year. He also requested permission to see Suu Kyi, who currently resides in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison.
He was refused both the requests, government officials confirmed.
“There will be no meeting between Ban and Suu Kyi,” said a Yangon-based government official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Upon arrival in Yangon, Ban immediately departed for the Irrawaddy Delta, which was devastated by Cyclone Nargis May 2-3 last year, leaving an estimated 140,000 people dead or missing.
Ban last visited Myanmar a year ago, when he succeeded in persuading Than Shwe to facilitate international aid to the millions of victims left homeless and without food or medicine by the cyclone.
He has been less successful on this trip, which aimed at putting political pressure on the authoritarian regime that has ruled Myanmar since 1988.
Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy opposition party, has been imprisoned for 14 years and faces another three to five years in jail if found guilty of breaking the terms of her house arrest.
The Nobel peace laureate has been charged with deliberately allowing US citizen John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside residence May 3 and spend two nights in her compound.
A special court was scheduled to hear a defence witness in the Suu Kyi case Friday, but the hearing was postponed until July 10, perhaps because of Ban’s arrival.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the 1990 general election by a landslide but has been blocked from power by Myanmar’s junta ever since.
The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year house arrest sentence expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world leaders and statements of concern from its regional allies in Association of South-East Asian Nations.
Ban will stop over in Bangkok Saturday night, when he has scheduled a brief meeting with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“Abhisit is meeting the UN secretary-general both in his capacity as prime minister and as the current chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN),” Thai foreign ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said.
“Obviously Myanmar will be discussed but it will not be a single-issue meeting,” Thani added.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/
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Ban Ki-moon ‘deeply disappointed’ at rejection of Aung San Suu Kyi visit request
AP
Published: July 04, 2009, 10:39
Yangon, Myanmar: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is “deeply disappointed” after the Myanmar junta rejected his second and final request to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban met Saturday with Senior Gen. Than Shwe for a second inconclusive round of talks.
Ban told reporters he is sorry to report it is “not possible” for him to see the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The U.N. chief earlier described his two-day trip to Myanmar as “a very tough mission” to try to win freedom for Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi is on trial for allegedly violating her lengthy house arrest and could face five years in prison in a case that has sparked global outrage. http://archive.gulfnews.com/
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Myanmar Junta Blocks UN’s Ban From Meeting Aung San Suu Kyi
By Robert Fenner
July 4 (Bloomberg) — Myanmar’s military junta blocked Ban Ki-moon from meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the United Nations chief seeks to free political prisoners in the country.
The regime announced the decision after a second meeting between the UN head and Myanmar leader Than Shwe in the capital of Naypyidaw, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Ban.
Ban is on a two-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation, pressing the government to free 2,100 political prisoners, resume national reconciliation and ensure credible elections next year.
Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 years in detention since her party won the last elections in 1990, faces prison for allegedly violating a house arrest order. Pro-democracy campaigners say the potential five-year jailing is designed to prevent the 64- year-old Nobel Peace Price winner from contesting polls promised by the ruling generals in 2010.
Suu Kyi was transferred to prison last month to face trial, with prosecutors alleging she allowed an American intruder to stay for two days after he swam to her lakeside home in Yangon.
Ban said in Tokyo earlier this week that he would “raise in the strongest possible terms” the international community’s concerns about the situation in Myanmar.
The visit is Ban’s first since he persuaded the junta to accept international aid last year in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which killed about 138,000 people.
The military regime plans to hold elections in 2010 after 92 percent of voters approved a new constitution in a referendum last year. The opposition has denounced the charter because it bars Suu Kyi from holding office, and says the election is designed to entrench the power of the generals who have ruled Myanmar for almost half a century.
President Barack Obama has described Suu Kyi’s arrest and court case as a “show trial” based on “spurious charges.” Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry denied the charges are political, saying they were “taken unavoidably” and the court case is being conducted in accordance with “the rule of law.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne rfenner@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: July 4, 2009 03:23 EDT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
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Myanmar junta blocks UN chief from meeting Suu Kyi
Herve Couturier
July 4, 2009 – 6:04PM
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply disappointed” after the chief of Myanmar’s military junta on Saturday refused to let him meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban announced the regime’s decision after holding a second meeting with reclusive military supremo Than Shwe in the bunker-like capital Naypyidaw on the second and final day of his visit to the country.
“I am deeply disappointed,” Ban told reporters as he boarded a plane for Yangon. “It is a setback for the international community and it is a missed opportunity for the Myanmar authorities.”
He said that Than Shwe had cited the fact that Aung San Suu Kyi is currently on trial as the reason for denying the visit. She faces up to five years in jail if convicted on charges of violating her house arrest.
The refusal will add fire to critics of Ban’s visit to Myanmar, which had been considered diplomatically risky because of its timing during her trial and the likelihood that the ruling generals would fail to offer concessions.
Ban had pushed the iron-fisted Than Shwe on Friday to release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of elections promised by the ruling generals in 2010.
Rights groups had warned that his visit would be considered a major failure unless he managed to win her freedom.
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was transferred from house arrest to Yangon’s notorious Insein prison in May to face trial after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
The 64-year-old has been in detention for most of the past two decades since the junta refused to recognise her party’s victory in the country’s last elections in 1990.
Ban said on Friday that he had made a personal request to Than Shwe to be able to meet her.
“He told me that she is on trial but I told him this is my proposal, this is important and I am waiting for their consideration and reply,” Ban said after Friday’s encounter.
The UN chief is now due to visit areas affected by deadly Cyclone Nargis in 2008. He made his first visit to the country after the disaster, when he managed to persuade the regime to accept international aid.
Ban would also give an unprecedented public address to diplomatic missions, UN agencies, international and non-governmental organisations in Yangon before his departure on Saturday evening, officials said.
UN officials travelling with Ban said there had been a “very lively exchange of views” after Ban proposed a five-point agenda for reforms at Friday’s meeting.
There was “considerable resistance” to the proposals, including the establishment of a UN “good offices” bureau in Yangon to provide a permanent structure for Ban and his special UN envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari.
Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court in Yangon on Friday but the trial was adjourned for a week because the judges had not received an earlier judgement barring two defence witnesses, her National League for Democracy said.
Critics have accused the junta of using the trial to keep her locked up for the elections, although Ban said that Than Shwe assured him that the elections would be held in a “fair, free and transparent manner.”
The case has sparked international outrage, with US President Barack Obama calling it a “show trial” and a host of world leaders and celebrities calling for her release.
Ban has faced recent criticism for his softly-softly approach to the job of secretary general, but diplomats say he hoped his quiet brand of diplomacy will pay dividends with Myanmar’s generals.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
© 2009 AFP
This story is sourced direct from an overseas news agency as an additional service to readers. Spelling follows North American usage, along with foreign currency and measurement units.
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/
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Thai prime minister to meet UN secretary-general
Asia-Pacific News
Jul 4, 2009, 4:36 GMT
Bangkok – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will meet United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Saturday night when he transits through Bangkok from neighbouring Myanmar, officials said.
Ban, who is on a two-day trip to Myanmar pressing for the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, was scheduled to meet Abhisit at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 10 pm, after which he would hold a press conference.
‘Abhisit is meeting the UN secretary-general both in his capacity as prime minister and as the current chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN),’ Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thingpakdi said.
‘Obviously Myanmar will be discussed but it will not be a single-issue meeting,’ Thani added.
Ban travelled to Myanmar on Friday where he met with military supremo Senior General Than Shwe in the army’s headquarters at Naypyitaw, 350 kilometres north of Yangon.
The UN chief also met with 25 representatives from political parties, including four leaders from the National League for Democracy opposition party.
The outcome of the talks were not immediately made known in the secretive, military-ruled nation.
Ban reportedly requested to meet on Saturday with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently being held at Yangon’s infamous Insein Prison.
The Nobel peace laureate is on trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest, by allowing US citizen John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside residence May 3 and spend two nights in her compound.
A special court was scheduled to hear a defence witness in the Suu Kyi case Friday, but the hearing was postponed until July 10, perhaps because of Ban’s arrival.
Ban last visited Myanmar in May 2008, to hasten international aid to the country in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which killed up to 150,000 people.
Ban was expected to press the military leaders to release all political prisoners including Suu Kyi, resume dialogue with the opposition, and create conditions for a credible election in 2010.
Observers believe it is highly unlikely that Than Shwe will agree to release Suu Kyi prior to the election.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the 1990 general election by a landslide but has been blocked from power by Myanmar’s junta ever since.
The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year house arrest sentence expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world leaders and statements of concern from its regional allies in ASEAN.
http://www.monstersandcritics.
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Weekly Business Roundup (July 4, 2009)
By WILLIAM BOOT Saturday, July 4, 2009
Hong Kong Trade Fair Woos Burmese Exhibitors
Organizers of a wide-ranging international Hong Kong trade fair have visited Rangoon seeking to attract exhibitors from Burma.
The move comes as Hong Kong also strives to increase economic links with Burma, despite growing international condemnation over the trial of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Officials of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council were in Rangoon to meet Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce leaders to drum up interest in participating in the annual Hong Kong fair, which is being held next week and again in July 2010.
The Hong Kong trade visit to Burma was reported by China’s official news agency Xinhua which said the former British colony is now in the top five Burmese export destinations.
Hong Kong also now stands as sixth largest foreign investor in Burma, according to Xinhua, quoting unnamed government officials.
Hong Kong businesses invested just over US $500 million in Burma in 31 projects in 2008, the report said.
Junta Plans to Sell Gems at Foreign Fairs
The state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise is reportedly planning to participate in several industry fairs abroad.
The junta is considering trying to sell Burmese precious stones in the Middle East and Sri Lanka to boost sales as Western countries tighten sanctions.
The Burmese gems agency has teamed up with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry to exhibit at a trade fair in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in September, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
It quotes Burmese officials saying approaches have been made to take part also in fairs in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
The report comes as the Burmese gems enterprise wraps up a two-week gems auction in Rangoon on Saturday. It was the second such event this year.
Despite Western sanctions, gems are among Burma’s top five foreign currency earners. The gems enterprise claims to have sold nearly US $200 million worth of precious stones at the last Rangoon auction in March.
The fair just ending attracted buyers from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, according to Xinhua.
Bangladesh to Issue Bay of Bengal Gas Search Licenses
Bangladesh has announced plans to award offshore exploration licenses to hunt for oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal, but promises that any drilling will steer clear of contentious waters bordering Burma.
Exploration has been stalled for years but the new Dhaka government is being forced to act because of a worsening energy shortage in the country.
Bangladesh recently submitted its sea boundary claims in the Bay of Bengal to the United Nations after failing to reach agreement in long-running talks with the Burmese authorities.
“The government may award only three to four blocks to two oil companies as it does not want to take any decision right at this moment about the blocks that are in the offshore areas which have also been claimed by India and Myanmar,” an unnamed official from state energy firm Petrobangla was quoted by The Star newspaper of Dhaka as saying this week.
Bangladeshi navy vessels last year surrounded a drilling rig of the South Korean firm Daewoo in contentious waters and forced its withdrawal.
Daewoo said it was working with a license provided by the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.
Indonesia Seeks Closer Trade Ties with Burma
Indonesia is bidding to improve its trade links with Burma by creating direct economic links.
Although trade between the two countries is improving there are no direct air links and banking arrangements.
Officials in Jakarta, quoted by the Jakarta Post this week, say these are obstacles hindering further bilateral trade.
At present, Burma-Indonesia trade is conducted via third countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—Singapore banks and Malaysian ports—the newspaper said.
Burma buys oil from Indonesia, which in turn imports Burmese farm produce.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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