[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Reuters-UN official begins visit to



Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Reuters-UN official begins visit to Myanmar Thursday 

UN official begins visit to Myanmar Thursday
08:37 p.m Oct 13, 1999 Eastern
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A senior U.N. official begins a visit to
Myanmar on Thursday, seeking to promote a dialogue between the Asian
country's military government and the opposition, the United Nations said.

Alvaro de Soto, an assistant secretary-general for political affairs, who
has visited the country about five times, will travel to the isolated nation
as an emissary of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and submit a report to the
U.N. General Assembly.

The Assembly has asked Annan to try and end the country's isolation by
persuading the government to negotiate with the opposition National League
for Democracy (NLD), which is led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu
Kyi.

The assembly has condemned Myanmar, formerly Burma, for severe human rights
violations ranging from forced labour to torture of prisoners, mainly
students, professionals and academics.

The government earlier this year postponed a visit by De Soto but gave no
reasons for it. New arrangements were worked out last month when Myanmar's
foreign minister, Win Aung, attended the annual General Assembly debate.

De Soto last visited Myanmar a year ago at which time he raised the
possibility of World Bank development aid if the government initiated a
dialogue with the opposition.

So far the military junta has refused to negotiate with Suu Kyi's party
unless she disbands a committee designed to represent parliament, a
challenge to its rule.

The NLD won the country's last election in 1990 but the military ignored the
results and has since tried to silence the party through arrests and
intimidation.