In this March 8, 2008 file photo released by Myanmar News Agency, Aung San Suu Kyi, left, pro-democracy leader of the National League for Democracy Party, talks with Ibrahim Gambari, U.N. special envoy to Myanmer, during their meeting at the state guest house in Yangon, Myanmar. Gambari met with detained opposition leader Suu Kyi on Monday, February 2, 2009 in an effort to promote political reform in the military-ruled country, government officials said. (AP Photo)
Rangoon : The United Nation's special envoy to Myanmar has met Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's detained opposition leader, on the third day of his visit to the South-East Asian country. Ibrahim Gambari met the Nobel peace laureate at a state-run guesthouse in the former capital, Yangon. No details were released on their discussions, which lasted for about an hour.
Earlier witnesses saw Aung San Suu Kyi taken in convoy from her home where she has been held under house arrest for most of the past 19 years. The leader of the country's main opposition party had refused to meet the UN envoy on his last visit in August 2008. But this time she said she was prepared to meet him if he stepped up pressure on Myanmar's ruling military to take firm steps towards democratic reform. Gambari, who is on his seventh visit to Myanmar, has been criticised for failing to produce significant results in efforts to bring the opposition and the ruling military together.
'Meaningful discussions'
UN officials have said that on this visit Gambari wanted to have "meaningful discussions" with all parties, including talks on the country's ailing economy. Despite rich agricultural land, oil and mineral reserves, Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia. The country is still struggling to recover from the impact of Cyclone Nargis last May, which killed an estimated 146,000 people.
After his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi Gambari was due to travel to the town of Lambutta, one of the places hardest-hit by the cyclone. Over the weekend Gambari met government leaders, urging them to release the country's political prisoners and resume reconciliatory dialogue with the opposition. He is however not expected to meet with Senior General Than Shwe, the country's military leader.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 and says it is pursuing its own so-called "roadmap to democracy" which will lead to eventual elections for a new national parliament. Opposition groups have dismissed the roadmap as a sham, because it bars Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders from public office and guarantees the balance of power remains with the military.
Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy to victory in national elections held in 1990, but the military government ignored the results and has kept her under house arrest for most of the intervening years.
Suu Kyi demands prisoner release
Rangoon : Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Myanmar opposition leader, has said all political prisoners must be freed as a precondition for any visit to the country by the UN secretary general. A visit by Ban Ki-moon has been mooted as a possible way of breathing life into talks on political reform between the country's opposition and ruling military. But in a meeting on Monday with Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi was quoted as saying that the release of all political detainees was a "minimum requirement" for any talks to go ahead. Monday's talks with Gambari are thought to have been the first contact Aung San Suu Kyi has had with someone from outside Myanmar since she met him in March last year. Commenting on the meeting, a spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's the opposition National League for Democracy said she had explained to Gambari that she was "ready and willing to meet anyone, but she could not accept having meetings without achieving any outcome."
Source: MORUNG EXPRESS
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_a.png?x-id=77abcd9a-e8ce-4aab-8b81-8b68684feb12)
Rangoon : The United Nation's special envoy to Myanmar has met Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's detained opposition leader, on the third day of his visit to the South-East Asian country. Ibrahim Gambari met the Nobel peace laureate at a state-run guesthouse in the former capital, Yangon. No details were released on their discussions, which lasted for about an hour.
Earlier witnesses saw Aung San Suu Kyi taken in convoy from her home where she has been held under house arrest for most of the past 19 years. The leader of the country's main opposition party had refused to meet the UN envoy on his last visit in August 2008. But this time she said she was prepared to meet him if he stepped up pressure on Myanmar's ruling military to take firm steps towards democratic reform. Gambari, who is on his seventh visit to Myanmar, has been criticised for failing to produce significant results in efforts to bring the opposition and the ruling military together.
'Meaningful discussions'
UN officials have said that on this visit Gambari wanted to have "meaningful discussions" with all parties, including talks on the country's ailing economy. Despite rich agricultural land, oil and mineral reserves, Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia. The country is still struggling to recover from the impact of Cyclone Nargis last May, which killed an estimated 146,000 people.
After his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi Gambari was due to travel to the town of Lambutta, one of the places hardest-hit by the cyclone. Over the weekend Gambari met government leaders, urging them to release the country's political prisoners and resume reconciliatory dialogue with the opposition. He is however not expected to meet with Senior General Than Shwe, the country's military leader.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 and says it is pursuing its own so-called "roadmap to democracy" which will lead to eventual elections for a new national parliament. Opposition groups have dismissed the roadmap as a sham, because it bars Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders from public office and guarantees the balance of power remains with the military.
Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy to victory in national elections held in 1990, but the military government ignored the results and has kept her under house arrest for most of the intervening years.
Suu Kyi demands prisoner release
Rangoon : Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Myanmar opposition leader, has said all political prisoners must be freed as a precondition for any visit to the country by the UN secretary general. A visit by Ban Ki-moon has been mooted as a possible way of breathing life into talks on political reform between the country's opposition and ruling military. But in a meeting on Monday with Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi was quoted as saying that the release of all political detainees was a "minimum requirement" for any talks to go ahead. Monday's talks with Gambari are thought to have been the first contact Aung San Suu Kyi has had with someone from outside Myanmar since she met him in March last year. Commenting on the meeting, a spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's the opposition National League for Democracy said she had explained to Gambari that she was "ready and willing to meet anyone, but she could not accept having meetings without achieving any outcome."
Source: MORUNG EXPRESS
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
No comments:
Post a Comment