ASEAN to pressure Rangoon over Aung San Suu Kyi
Listen to the original broadcast in Burmese
The United Nations will send its special envoy, Razali Ismail, to Burma at the end of the month, in an attempt to kick-start the U.N.-brokeredreconciliation in the country, and to meet the detained opposition leader,Aung San Suu Kyi, RFA reports.
Razali will head for Burma on Sept. 30 following consultations with U.N.Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York, a U.S. spokesperson said. The newscomes as National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyirecovers from major surgery.
Nobel laureate Suu Kyi was arrested after a government-led ambush on hermotorcade on May 30 in the north of the country, in which as many as 100 people died, and an unknown number of women were raped, according to eyewitness testimonies recorded for RFA's Burmese service. She has been held in an unknown location "for her own protection", according to the country's military rulers.
Annan expects Razali to meet Suu Kyi, "find out her condition and work withgovernment officials towards her immediate and unconditional release," the U.N. spokesman said. The NLD leader underwent three-hour surgery last weekfor a gynecological problem.
The secretary-general also expects Razali "to discuss with Prime MinisterGen. Khin Nyunt and other government leaders ways in which to revive thenational reconciliation process, which came to a standstill after theincident of May 30," he said. Razali brokered the reconciliation talks andlater secured Suu Kyi's release from more than 18 months of house arrest inMay 2002.
Earlier this month, Razali said he hoped to return to Burma and speak to thenew premier about his recently announced road map to an elected governmentin Burma. Khin Nyunt, who was named prime minister last month in a majorCabinet reshuffle, announced his "road map" on Aug. 30, but made no offersto hold talks with the NLD or other political opponents.
The NLD won a national election more than a decade ago in Burma, but themilitary junta refused to yield power. Since 1990, Suu Kyi has been keptunder various periods of house arrest. Her latest detention haltedreconciliation talks she had begun with the junta in October 2000.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's former foreign minister Ali Alatas is visiting thecountry to put further pressure on Rangoon for her release. "I am here asthe special envoy of the Indonesian president (Megawati Sukarnoputri)," hetold reporters on arrival.
A spokesperson from the U.N. Secretary General's office told RFA's Burmeseservice that any effort on the part of the region to work toward the releaseof Suu Kyi is welcomed.
Indonesia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN), which has called for Aung San Suu Kyi's release ahead of an Oct. 7summit. ASEAN -- which has traditionally refrained from commenting on thedomestic political affairs of its members -- was strongly criticized by the international community for admitting Burma in 1997.
Asean groups Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, thePhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.