PM has hopes for UN's visit to Burma

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PM has hopes for UN's visit to Burma

Published: 22/05/2009 at 03:24 PM
Online news: Asia

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Friday he had hopes the visit of bUnited Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to Burma will result in an improvement in the political situation there.

His was commenting on Mr Ban's announcement he would visit Burma "as soon as possible" to press for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

He told CNN that her imprisonment was "unacceptable".

"I'm deeply concerned about what has been happening in Myanmar [Burma] in terms of democratisation and I'm going to urge again the release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

Mr Abhisit said the secretary-general had originally planned to visit Burma in April, but the visit had not eventuated.

Burma's military junta accused the Nobel peace laureate of violating her house arrest and put her on secret trial, a move widely seen as ensuring she remains under arrest and unable to contest the promised general election next year. Mrs Suu Kyi's current period of house arrest was due to expire.

Mr Abhisit said that during her meeting with a Thai diplomat on Wednesday inside the prison compound, Mrs Suu Kyi had said she would fight during her trial to bring out the truth and explain the mysterious, uninvited, visit by US citizen John Yettaw which gave the junta an excuse to charge her.

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Bill W

Discussion 1 : 22/05/2009 at 05:14 PM1
So the UN secretary thinks this act of the ruling Burmese military is "unacceptable"? What about all the other things they have pushed onto their people.
Offer the big guy in Burma a comfortable retirement package and get him and his cronies out of there. First step might be to talk to the big oil companies who are supporting the regime under the guise of "providing energy needs". Get real! If you stop the cash flow, you will stop the regime. So few are benfiting at the expense of so many and the best the UN (and the rest of the free world) can say is that it is "unacceptable"? !!
We should be ashamed of ourselves to allow this to continue.
The PM of Thailand also neds to step up to the plate as an ASEAN neighbor and finally exert some real pressure on Burma and not worry so much about saving the gneral's "face" as saving the innocent, surpressed people of Burma!
(I refuse to call this country Mynamar since that is illegitimate as the military regime is!)

Bill W

Discussion 1 : 22/05/2009 at 05:14 PM1

So the UN secretary thinks this act of the ruling Burmese military is "unacceptable"? What about all the other things they have pushed onto their people.
Offer the big guy in Burma a comfortable retirement package and get him and his cronies out of there. First step might be to talk to the big oil companies who are supporting the regime under the guise of "providing energy needs". Get real! If you stop the cash flow, you will stop the regime. So few are benfiting at the expense of so many and the best the UN (and the rest of the free world) can say is that it is "unacceptable"? !!
We should be ashamed of ourselves to allow this to continue.
The PM of Thailand also neds to step up to the plate as an ASEAN neighbor and finally exert some real pressure on Burma and not worry so much about saving the gneral's "face" as saving the innocent, surpressed people of Burma!
(I refuse to call this country Mynamar since that is illegitimate as the military regime is!)

PM has hopes for UN's visit to Burma