Myanmar junta chief willing to meet opposition

Head of military details preconditions for talks with Suu Kyi

Updated: 2 hours, 21 minutes ago

YANGON, Myanmar - The head of Myanmar's military junta told a U.N. envoy this week that he is willing to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but with certain preconditions, the state media reported Thursday.

It also said nearly 2,100 people were arrested in last week's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists, and almost 700 have been released.

Senior Gen. Than Shwe told U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari during their talks Tuesday that he is willing to meet Suu Kyi if she gives up her calls for confronting the government and for imposing sanctions on it, Myanmar state TV and radio reported.

Than Shwe told Gambari that "in her dealings with the government, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has called for confrontation, utter devastation, economic sanctions and all other sanctions," state media said.

"If she abandons these calls, Senior Gen. Than Shwe told Mr. Gambari that he will personally meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the media said. Daw is a term of respect for older women.

Suu Kyi has said in the past she supports economic sanctions against the military junta, but she has not publicly called for devastation of her homeland or the government.

'Not really sincere'
Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, scoffed at the general's offer. "Applying such conditions shows that the government is not really sincere to meet her," he said. NLD executives are allowed no contact with Suu Kyi.

Than Shwe's preconditions are not new _ the junta has regularly called on Suu Kyi to give up her confrontational attitude _ but it is the first time the junta leader has said he is willing to meet with her.

This willingness is remarkable given that Than Shwe has a visceral dislike for the Nobel peace laureate and is said to get angry even at the mention of her name. Suu Kyi, who has spent nearly 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest, is not known to have met a senior junta leader since 2002.

The reports gave no indication that the junta was prepared to lift restrictions on Suu Kyi or on members of her NLD party, which has often called for a dialogue with the government but has been rebuffed. Suu Kyi's party won national elections in 1990 but the generals refused to give up power.

Gambari on Tuesday ended a four-day trip to Myanmar in a bid to persuade the junta to end its crackdown on pro-democracy activists. He is scheduled to brief U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon later Thursday.

Ban himself has said that Gambari's mission could not be termed a success even though the envoy delivered "the strongest possible message" to Myanmar's military leaders.

China, Myanmar's closest ally, praised the meeting between Than Shwe and Gambari, and appealed to all parties in the country to remain calm and resume stability "as soon as possible."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement that Beijing has "made its own efforts to support the U.N. secretary-general and his Myanmar special envoy's negotiations." It did not elaborate.

Anti-junta demonstrations broke out in mid-August over a fuel price increase, then grew when monks took the lead last month. But the military crushed the protests with gunfire, tear gas and clubs starting on Sept. 26. The government said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the death toll at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including thousands of monks.

Visible military presence
State TV and radio said 2,093 were arrested under the emergency law that was invoked on Sept. 25, banning assembly of more than five people. It said 692 have been released.

The demonstrators were arrested under three categories: people who were actively involved in the protests, those who supported the protesters, and those who inadvertently took part.

Soldiers maintained a visible presence on the streets of Yangon on Thursday.

A foreign aid worker said his staff had told him that soldiers are continuing to raid homes at night to arrest people who took part in the demonstrations. Neighbors are alerting each other if they see troops coming, he said.

Tim Wimborne / Reuters A group of demonstrators in Sydney, Australia, call for the United Nations to help stop a crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Myanmar.

With Internet access to the outside world blocked, state-controlled newspapers churned out the government's version of the country's crisis and filled pages with propaganda slogans, such as "We favor stability. We favor peace," and "We oppose unrest and violence."

Critics from the international community and foreign media were dismissed as "liars attempting to destroy the nation" _ one of many bold-faced slogans covering The New Light of Myanmar newspaper's back page Thursday.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta came to power after snuffing out a 1988 pro-democracy movement against the previous military dictatorship, killing at least 3,000 people in the process.

     The willingness to compromise is essential in any negotiations. However some things cannot be compromised. In my opinion, the meeting preconditions demanded by General Than Shwe, the brutal Myanmar junta leader, on the pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Soo Kyi, are unacceptable. His totalitarian regime has committed crimes that must be accounted for. Holy people don't make deals with "the Devil" and Daw Aung San Soo Kyi is a "holy woman", in my opinion. If General Than Shwe can defend the actions of his government then he should have no fear confronting a frail and lovely little woman the Burmese nation calls "auntie". Be a man General Than Shwe!

tags: aung san soo kyi  than shwe  myanmar  politics  diplomacy  abuse  patriotism  

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