Hopes Dim for Gambari Breakthrough
By WAI MOE
Thursday, March 6, 2008, -->
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The UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, arrived in Burma on Thursday amid limited expectations that he will be able to persuade the country’s ruling generals to engage in genuine national reconciliation talks with the opposition.A statement issued by the UN ahead of the envoy’s visit said that Gambari “hopes to stay as long as necessary” in Burma and to meet with “all the groups he was not able to see during his last visit.” It added that his itinerary was still under discussion with the junta.
UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari (Photo: Ernest Harsch)Meanwhile, sources in Rangoon said that security in the country’s largest city has been tight since Wednesday, the day before Gambari’s visit was scheduled to begin. “There are soldiers and riot police with red scarves in stand-by position at every street corner in the city. Some of them are in trucks and some of them are standing on the street,” said a housewife in Rangoon on Thursday. This is Gambari’s third trip to the country since the junta’s brutal crackdown on monk-led demonstrations last September, and his fifth since his first visit in May 2006. Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) expressed cautious optimism over this latest visit, but noted that little has changed since Gambari was last in the country in November 2007. “We are hopeful for this trip. But his previous proposal, which called for a meaningful dialogue, is not yet in progress. He should put more energy into pursuing his dialogue proposal,” said NLD spokesperson Nyan Win.While the opposition continues to call for dialogue, the regime has come up with other plans designed to satisfy international demands for progress in the country’s political impasse. Observers note that this will be Gambari’s first chance to hold face-to-face talks with the generals since their unexpectedly announced last month that they planned to hold a constitutional referendum in May, to be followed by a general election in 2010.During previous trips, the envoy made several suggestions for a democratic transition and economic development, calling for a meaningful dialogue and an inclusive process in drafting the constitution, as well as a proposal to form a committee to fight poverty. But by declaring a referendum and elections which exclude the country’s democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, the regime has indicated that the envoy’s suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.In a statement released on Tuesday, the London-based Burma Campaign UK said that Gambari’s current visit will “make or break” the UN envoy’s efforts in the country. “If Gambari comes back with anything less than a date for genuine talks with Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups, and a commitment for the release of all political prisoners, then his mission has failed,” the group’s director, Anna Robert, said in the release.“Gambari must make the regime understand that it cannot continue with the sham referendum and elections it has proposed,” she added. Expectations of some sort of breakthrough were much higher in November 2007, following Gambari’s last visit to Burma. Returning to the United Nations to report on the progress of his diplomatic efforts, Gambari delivered a message from Aung San Suu Kyi which referred to her occasional meetings with a junta liaison, Aung Kyi. In her statement, she said that “the phase of preliminary consultations will conclude soon so that a meaningful and time bound dialogue with the junta leadership can start as early as possible.”She went on to indicate the scope of the proposed talks:“In this time of vital need for democratic solidarity and national unity, it is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and forces as possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality races,” said Suu Kyi in the statement. In an open letter to Gambari, Souhayr Belhassen, president of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights, expressed concern over the military regime’s exclusive approach to the constitution-drafting process. “We hope that your forthcoming visit to Burma will contribute [to efforts]to induce the Burmese government to create the condition for dialogue and reconciliation by putting an immediate end to the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and by releasing all political prisoners,” said Belhassen.
By WAI MOE
Thursday, March 6, 2008, -->
TEXT SIZE
The UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, arrived in Burma on Thursday amid limited expectations that he will be able to persuade the country’s ruling generals to engage in genuine national reconciliation talks with the opposition.A statement issued by the UN ahead of the envoy’s visit said that Gambari “hopes to stay as long as necessary” in Burma and to meet with “all the groups he was not able to see during his last visit.” It added that his itinerary was still under discussion with the junta.
UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari (Photo: Ernest Harsch)Meanwhile, sources in Rangoon said that security in the country’s largest city has been tight since Wednesday, the day before Gambari’s visit was scheduled to begin. “There are soldiers and riot police with red scarves in stand-by position at every street corner in the city. Some of them are in trucks and some of them are standing on the street,” said a housewife in Rangoon on Thursday. This is Gambari’s third trip to the country since the junta’s brutal crackdown on monk-led demonstrations last September, and his fifth since his first visit in May 2006. Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) expressed cautious optimism over this latest visit, but noted that little has changed since Gambari was last in the country in November 2007. “We are hopeful for this trip. But his previous proposal, which called for a meaningful dialogue, is not yet in progress. He should put more energy into pursuing his dialogue proposal,” said NLD spokesperson Nyan Win.While the opposition continues to call for dialogue, the regime has come up with other plans designed to satisfy international demands for progress in the country’s political impasse. Observers note that this will be Gambari’s first chance to hold face-to-face talks with the generals since their unexpectedly announced last month that they planned to hold a constitutional referendum in May, to be followed by a general election in 2010.During previous trips, the envoy made several suggestions for a democratic transition and economic development, calling for a meaningful dialogue and an inclusive process in drafting the constitution, as well as a proposal to form a committee to fight poverty. But by declaring a referendum and elections which exclude the country’s democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, the regime has indicated that the envoy’s suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.In a statement released on Tuesday, the London-based Burma Campaign UK said that Gambari’s current visit will “make or break” the UN envoy’s efforts in the country. “If Gambari comes back with anything less than a date for genuine talks with Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups, and a commitment for the release of all political prisoners, then his mission has failed,” the group’s director, Anna Robert, said in the release.“Gambari must make the regime understand that it cannot continue with the sham referendum and elections it has proposed,” she added. Expectations of some sort of breakthrough were much higher in November 2007, following Gambari’s last visit to Burma. Returning to the United Nations to report on the progress of his diplomatic efforts, Gambari delivered a message from Aung San Suu Kyi which referred to her occasional meetings with a junta liaison, Aung Kyi. In her statement, she said that “the phase of preliminary consultations will conclude soon so that a meaningful and time bound dialogue with the junta leadership can start as early as possible.”She went on to indicate the scope of the proposed talks:“In this time of vital need for democratic solidarity and national unity, it is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and forces as possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality races,” said Suu Kyi in the statement. In an open letter to Gambari, Souhayr Belhassen, president of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights, expressed concern over the military regime’s exclusive approach to the constitution-drafting process. “We hope that your forthcoming visit to Burma will contribute [to efforts]to induce the Burmese government to create the condition for dialogue and reconciliation by putting an immediate end to the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and by releasing all political prisoners,” said Belhassen.
