» 09/29/2009 14:40 MYANMAR Aung San Suu Kyi holds out hand to military junta to end sanctions In a personal letter to Generalissimo Than Shwe, the Nobel Prize laureate calls for greater cooperation between the government and the pro-democracy opposition. The UN secretary general meets Myanmar prime minister in new York for UN General Assembly. The US says it is willing to work with Myanmar.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Myanmar (Burma) opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged the ruling junta to increase cooperation with her pro-democracy opposition in order to find a way to end sanctions on the country, she wrote in a rare letter sent to junta chief Than Shwe. The Nobel Prize laureate stressed her potential role in lifting sanctions, and asked to meet Western and Australian ambassadors to Myanmar. But Suu Kyi’s cooperation is conditional on knowing “the details of the sanctions” and their implications, said Nyan Win, spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD).
“The offer indicates that Suu Kyi has softened her stance towards the Burmese regime with the intention of addressing the country’s political problem,” said Win Min, Thailand-based Burmese academic specializing on the Burma.
At the same time, the move would reveal whether the junta is actually interested in cooperation in exchange for her acquittal in her pending appeal trial. On Friday, the Appeal Court in Yangon will hear the appeal by Ms Suu Kyi’s lawyers against her 11 August, three-year sentence to forced labour for sheltering a US citizen who had broken into her home.
The sentence was eventually changed to 18 months house arrest on special order of Generalissimo Than Shwe; but hope is fading fast that the conviction might be overturned. If it remains in place, the NLD leader will not be able to run in next year’s elections.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently met Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sien, who is in New York for the General Assembly.
Mr Ban has called for Suu Kyi’s release to speed up Myanmar’s process of democratization before elections are held next year.
Whilst insisting on non-proliferation and the release of political prisoners, the Obama administration is changing its stance towards Myanmar’s military junta.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Washington is willing to cooperate with Burma to encourage political reforms to counter China’s increasing economic and trading influence on the South-Asian country, a choice that Aung San Suu Kyi appears to welcome.
