UN's Ban denied Suu Kyi meeting
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) meeting with Myanmar's Senior General Than Shwe
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today 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 junta supremo Than Shwe's reason for the denial was because Suu Kyi was on trial and he 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'm very sorry to report to you that this is not possible."
Ban requested the visit during a rare meeting yesterday 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 yesterday until July 10 because of a clerical error by the court, according to her lawyer.
The secretary-general, 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 said those proposals included the release of the more than 2,000 political prisoners ahead of next year's election, opening of real dialogue between the government and opposition, and creating conditions conducive to free and fair elections.
It was not immediately known if Than Shwe agreed to all of Ban's requests.
However, yesterday Ban said Than Shwe had promised the election would not be rigged.
"I was assured that Myanmar's authorities will make sure that this election will be held in a fair and free and transparent manner," he said.
A UN official said they had urged the junta to accept international monitors.
In London, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the Myanmar authorities to halt Suu Kyi's trial and release her.
"I call on the regime to mark Ban Ki-moon's arrival by immediately halting her trial, which makes a mockery of justice, and ending her detention which undermines their credibility in the eyes of the world," he said in comments posted on the Huffington Post website.
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 visit 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.
Analysts say Ban may have been given some indication by the generals, or by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari after his trip last week, that his visit might bring some kind of positive result.
The secretary-general is also expected to give a speech in Yangon this afternoon, in which he will outline his vision for a democratic Myanmar.
UN officials said they expected some 500 people would attend the speech - among them employees of local and international non-government organisations, diplomats, opposition politicians and government officials.
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Comments
I suggest readers peruse this article.
In this article it would seem The generals are totally paranoid about western powers retaking it as colonial zone of slavery as it was under the past. And for this reason Aung San Suu Kyi is extremely dangerous for stability in that region. One assumes being married to a Brit she holds dual or at least the right to dual citizenship which certainly can lead to undue influence by the UK and America in tandem if ever she took over.
That would most likely mean the rape of the country by foreign corporations and certainly an armed military presence on the borders of China and near India, perhaps these military bases could be nuke armed platforms, which China among other would never allow. This means more wars and plenty of dead Burmese. further her judgment cannot be trusted having seen her reaction to a nut job American Christian crusader. She must never for the sake of the Burmese people be allowed to take power.
Shame on you "topolcats" for spinning on behalf of the brutal Myanmar military dictatorship.
same words Nelson Mandela was supposed to do in South Africa and yes
SA is still being raped by the same companies as the former South
African Gov. Go to South Africa and see how much human rights you have
or Irag or Afghanistan or even the US. OR GANGSTER STATES LIKE THE
UKRAINE after the Orange revolution, what is the state of the nation
now?
Do they have US human rights in Guantanamo, Bagram?
Slave labor you say, well that's about 70% of the Filipinos working
overseas to send money back to the democratic Philippines, perhaps as
poor or poorer than the Burmese. You have been feed a load of Bananas
imported from the Democratic Honduras, who claim to have a democratic
coup. Yea right Democracy, human Rights, that's a lot of bull. In the
west if your rich you have human rights., if your poor ask the blacks
of the USA if they have human rights. Shame on you for being
simpleminded. But as far as the generals go, yea thugs aren't all
general, aren't American generals in Vietnam Korea Afghanistan, Irag
Thugs. If anyone is a traitor to Myanmar is people like you that would
put marionettes in power
and have foreign military bases, death & civil war in Myanmar.
Democracy takes centuries to take hold, its a mindset after all and
even today few have it, perhaps only the Scandinavian country's and a
few in western Europe. In fact to be truly democratic, the very basis
of democracy is an informed population, Not even the USA has that,
this is why for the few that vote, they voted bush in twice. Good luck
with your dreams that's all they are.
Aren't democratic society's under law part of a criminal conspiracy therefore just as guilty if not more guilty? Well yes in my view. Here are examples of good dictators ( for a while) supported by democratic states, but only a few.
1. Augusto Pinochet-Chile,Videla-Argentina, Diem in Vietnam, Marcos of the Philippines, Saddam Hussien-Irag, Samoza of Nicaragua, Batista-Cuba. the list is to long in history, so for Today's 2009 democratic dictators, Saaskavilli of Giorgia, Yuskenko of the Ukraine, Just about every leader in Africa, Kurzai of Afganistan, Uribe of Columbia, not to mention drug king pin along with Kurzai, Oh I forgot about the highly democratic states of the middle east like Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhubi, the dictatorship of Singapore and Malaysia and of course the vision of a US Democratic state the basket case called the Philippines, where all but the white Spanish are exploited guest workers, slave laborers of the world from HK to Cairo. As far as prostitution is concerned its not Burma that is known for that, Its the Democratic state of Thailand where its international sex tourist destination, openly so and admitted unlike the Philippines which is the second biggest sex destination, (un-admitted) followed closely by Cambodia. Myanmar, Vietnam today is not a destination if you want prostitutes its those democratic states mentioned above.
So Western countries wring their hands in public, but quietly keep buying the cheap Burmese stuff via China. After all, think how cheap stuff can be when wages are $1 per day. Who else would work for that, eh?