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U.N. Envoy Disappointed By Myanmar VisitUNITED NATIONS — The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar told the Security Council on Tuesday that his recent trip there was his most disappointing yet since the country’s military government brutally put down protests led by monks in September. “Whereas each of my previous visits produced some tangible result that could be built upon, it is a source of disappointment that this latest visit did not yield any immediate tangible outcome,” the envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, said of his third trip since the crackdown. He said he had been unable to meet with senior government leaders and other groups representing political parties and ethnic minorities during his stay from March 6 to 10. All he was able to do, he reported, was leave a list of United Nations recommendations for international monitoring “enhancing the credibility and inclusiveness” of the democracy project that the military junta says it is undertaking. The government calls its seven-step process a “road map to democracy,” but critics say it is intended to guarantee continued military dominance. The project plans for elections in 2010 but bars participation by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League of Democracy, who has been under house arrest on and off for 18 years. Mr. Gambari saw her and told authorities there could be no reconciliation unless she was “released and treated as a partner in dialogue.” Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said that the planned next step in the democracy project was a referendum in May on a new constitution but that no one had seen the document and that restrictions on assembly meant that it could not be discussed in public. John Sawers, the British ambassador, said that any criticism of the referendum was illegal and that those voting against it could be prosecuted. Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar’s ambassador, told the Council that his country had released 2,600 people detained in September and that it had completed four of the seven steps of its road-map project. Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationYuli Vorontsov, Envoy to U.S. and Afghanistan, Is Dead at 78...China: Rails and Main Road Reopen... World Business Briefing: New Zealand’s Interest Rate Is Unchanged... Rule by Law: Rivals on Legal Tightrope Seek to Widen Freedoms in China... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - U.N. Envoy Disappointed By Myanmar Visit |
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