Syed Hamid Albar (right) was not allowed to see Aung San Suu Kyi
March 25, 2006 14:58 PM
Myanmar Opposition Unhappy No Meeting With Syed Hamid
By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, March 25 (Bernama) -- The National League for Democracy, Myanmar's main opposition party, is disappointed that an Asean fact-finding delegation led by Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar did not meet them.
The Chiang Mai-based Irrawaddy online news said NLD confirmed that Syed Hamid did not hold any meeting with the party.
"We are very sorry. Why didn't they meet with us?" Irrawaddy quoted NLD spokesman Myint Thein as saying from the party's headquarters in Yangon.
Despite a request to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, Syed Hamid did not see her.
The state-run The New Light of Myanmar called the trip by the Asean delegation a goodwill visit.
Irrawaddy said Asean's first attempt at making a balanced assessment of Myanmar's democratic progress appeared to have ended in failure.
The online news site is run by Irrawaddy Publishing Group which was established in 1992 by Myanmar nationals living in exile following the 1990 Suu Kyi-led NLD election victory which Myanmar's military rulers refused to recognise.
It quoted veteran politician Amyotheryei Win Naing who questioned Syed Hamid's decision to shroud the trip in secrecy despite intense interest from inside and outside Myanmar.
"I believe Mr Albar is going to tone down the trip's consequences in this way so that he might have the possibility to come back here later," he said.
Syed Hamid, who arrived in Yangon on Thursday, left the capital yesterday after meeting Prime Minister Gen Soe Win and Foreign Minister Nyan Win but did not meet the junta leader Senior General Than Shwe.
During his last trip to the capital in October last year, Syed Hamid met all the three leaders.
Yesterday, he also met the head of the junta-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Association, Htay Oo, who is also Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation, and the vice chairman of the National Convention Convening Committee Aung Toe.
Syed Hamid had described the visit as a chance to obtain first-hand information on the progress of the implementation of the reconciliation and democratisation process in Myanmar.
Asean, under pressure by the international community, reached an agreement with Myanmar at its summit in Kuala Lumpur last December to allow a delegation led by Syed Hamid to visit the country and evaluate its progress towards democracy.
Syed Hamid is expected to submit a report on his trip during the Asean Foreign Ministers meeting in Bali on April 17 and 18.
-- BERNAMA
Malaysian FM cuts off Burma trip
Malaysia's foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar, has cut short his fact-finding trip to Burma, in which he was due to check progress on political reform.
It was not clear why Mr Syed Hamid left Burma on Friday, rather than Saturday, as scheduled.
He met the Burmese prime minister, but his request to see the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, was not granted.
Mr Syed Hamid made the trip as an envoy of the regional diplomatic group Asean.
As current chairman of the group - the Association of South East Asian Nations - he was sent to evaluate whether Burma's military junta is implementing its plan for political reform.
Burma has been widely criticised for a lack of progress.
Several times Burma postponed the envoy's visit, saying it was too busy moving its administrative capital, or discussing democratic reform.
This was a snub to Asean to pay it back for forcing Burma to forego its turn as chair of the organisation, the BBC's South-East Asia correspondent Kylie Morris says.
She says it is unlikely this uncompleted fact-finding mission will see Burma restored to the bosom of Asean.
Regional impact
Before arriving in Rangoon, Mr Syed Hamid said his aim was to "obtain first hand information on the progress of the implementation of the reconciliation [with the opposition] and democratisation process in Myanmar [Burma]".
But he did not meet anyone from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.
He will brief Asean foreign ministers on his findings during their 17-18 April summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Malaysia has said a failure to reform by Burma, which is a member of Asean, is starting to cause problems for the whole region.
Mr Syed Hamid says Burma's neighbours can only continue to defend the regime internationally if they can report back that there is progress towards reform.
March 29, 2006 15:51 PM
Myanmar Leaders In Exile Want Syed Hamid To Meet Opposition Parties
By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, March 29 (Bernama) -- A Myanmar government-in-exile leader has urged Asean to set clear conditions and pressure the Myanmar government to let Asean special envoy Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to meet opposition parties, student activists and, particularly, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is under house arrest.
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) said Syed Hamid's recent fact-finding mission was incomplete as he had failed to meet these groups of people who were important in any national reconciliation process.
Its Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Bo Hla-Tint, said the Asean foreign minister's retreat in Bali next month must affirm its stance that the Malaysian foreign minister must be allowed to meet Suu Kyi and other opposition figures.
"This must be a continuous process and such visits must be frequent. It's good that Asean managed to have direct political engagement but it's not enough just meeting government leaders," he said when launching NCGUB's 12th report on "Human Rights in Burma 2005", here today.
Myanmar's military rulers do not recognise the Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy party's victory in the 1990 general election.
Bo said Syed Hamid was not allowed to meet opposition figures because the military government considered him as visiting the country in his capacity as the foreign minister of Malaysia and not as a special envoy of Asean.
"They have been telling their people and the media it was a visit by the Malaysian foreign minister and not a visit by the Asean special envoy," he said.
Last week, Syed Hamid made a two-day visit to Yangon and met Prime Minister Gen Soe Win and Foreign Minister Nyan Win but did not meet the junta leader Senior General Than Shwe.
He made the trip after Asean, under pressure from the international community, reached an agreement with Myanmar during the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur last December to allow a delegation led by Syed Hamid to visit the country and evaluate its progress towards democracy.
Syed Hamid is expected to submit a report on his trip at the Asean foreign ministers' meeting in Bali on April 17 and 18.
Bo said he had made a request through the Malaysian embassy here to meet Syed Hamid but had yet to receive approval.
Asked about Suu Kyi's condition, Bo, a qualified civil engineer who won a seat in the 1990 general election in Myanmar but is living in exile in Washington, said there was hardly any confirmation as outsiders were not allowed to see her.
"Only her doctor can see her with permission from the top authorities but he is not allowed to reveal her condition. She underwent two operations last year ... we are also not sure of rumours that she has cancer," he said.
Bo said that while Asean was doing its best to change the situation in Myanmar, the country's neighbours China, India and Thailand could play a bigger role to pressure the military regime.
Former Thai diplomat Asda Jayarama said that while India and Thailand could be influenced, it needed intervention from United Nations Security Council members with veto powers to talk with China.
"I am sure this can be done ... there are a lot of tradeoffs happening among the big five," he said.
On the Myanmar military regime's sudden decision to move the country's capital to Pyinmana, Bo said it was an irrational one and was done due to phobia and fear of foreign invasion.
"This is not a joke but from what we heard from inside the country, the first lady (Than Shwe's wife) had a bad dream.
So, an advisory group of prominent astrologers came up with the idea of moving the capital to avoid bad luck. Until then, they had wanted to move only the military headquarters, said Bo.
-- BERNAMA
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