The Irrawaddy - Young Dissidents Remember Aung San
By SAW YAN NAING
Thursday, February 12, 2009
An underground dissident group in Rangoon has voiced its continued support for Burma’s independence hero, Gen Aung San, on the eve of the 94th anniversary of his birth.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Moe Thway, a spokesman for the dissident organization Generation Wave, said, “Gen Aung San is a hero who opposed oppression. The current Burmese leaders are trying to hide his image.”
Since November, Generation Wave has launched a series of underground activities honoring Aung San, the father of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in defiance of the ruling junta.
The activities include circulating notes of currency stamped with Aung San’s image and distributing postcards in Rangoon bearing slogans such as “We won’t forget Aung San’s birthday!” “Don’t forget Martyrs’ Day!” and “Accept the legacy of Aung San!”
Generation Wave was founded after the Saffron Revolution in 2007 by Rangoon youths, including Burmese celebrities. However, several members were arrested and jailed, and the group remains underground. It frequently provides information to exiled media, including The Irrawaddy.
“We launched these activities because we want to show that we hadn’t forgotten the spirit of Gen Aung San,” said Moe Thway.
Aung San, the founder of the Union of Burma, was born on February 13, 1915, in Natmauk in Magwe Division in central Burma.
He was highly respected—not only by Burman people, but also by the various ethnic groups of Burma—for his efforts in winning independence from Great Britain. However, he was assassinated by an armed group along with six comrades at a cabinet meeting in Rangoon on 19 July, 1947, a date now commemorated in Burma as Martyrs’ Day.
The anniversary of Aung San’s birthday, February 13, is recognized as Children’s Day in Burma and is celebrated throughout the country.
However, despite the symbolic celebrations for Children’s Day on Friday, many observers have said that conditions for children have worsened in Burma in recent years.
In 2007, according to a UNICEF report, Burma’s child mortality rate was the fourth highest in the world, eclipsed in Asia only by Afghanistan.
Burmese children are also subjected to human rights abuses, including forced labor, and have been recruited as soldiers.
Burma’s military rulers have forbidden Children’s Day to be associated with the country’s founding father. Burmese teachers usually do not tell their students stories about Aung San for fear of reprisals, said a source.
“The junta would just as soon erase Aung San’s name from Burmese history books and forbid his birthday being celebrated altogether,” she said.
On Thursday, in his message to the public on the Union Day of Burma, junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe made no mention of Aung San, even though he was the founder of Union Day and of the Burmese armed forces.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Irish Sun - Obama can learn from Bush on Burma
Irish Sun - Obama can learn from Bush on Burma
Thursday 12th February, 2009
((Op-ed) Benedict Rogers - The Guardian)
As President Barack Obama dismantles the legacy of the Bush administration, there is one area in which he should actually emulate and build on his predecessor's record: Burma.
Whatever else one thinks of George Bush, few could deny the contribution he, and particularly his wife Laura, made to raising the profile of the suffering in Burma. In 2005, he spent almost an hour in the Oval Office with a young Shan woman activist from Burma, Charm Tong, and heard about the military regime's use of rape as a weapon of war.
In 2006, a day after former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu published a report calling for Burma to be placed on the UN security council agenda, the US declared its support for the initiative.
The US consistently led the way in raising Burma at the security council and seeking a resolution, initially with slow and grudging support from its natural allies. The US has the only meaningful set of sanctions against the regime, and in the past two years it has sought to tighten and target them further.
Laura Bush became a particular champion of Burma, making personal telephone calls to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, hosting a roundtable at the UN in New York and holding her own press conference after Cyclone Nargis in which she strongly condemned the military regime's denial of aid to the victims. Last year, on a visit to Thailand, Mr Bush met Burmese dissidents in the US embassy in Bangkok, and his wife visited a refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border. For all their faults, the former president and first lady were consistent in highlighting the crisis in Burma and increasing international pressure on the junta.
As President Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton develop their foreign policy, they face many challenges, not least in the Middle East. Africa will understandably be a priority, given the scale of poverty on the continent and the president's own personal roots. Relations with Pakistan and China will be of strategic importance, and like Africa, the president will have a particular interest in Indonesia having spent part of his childhood there. But amid this long list of issues, the new administration must not lose sight of the dire situation in Burma.
There are five key ways in which the new administration can build on the previous government's record on Burma. First, keep raising Burma at every opportunity, within the UN and with Burma's neighbours. Empower the US special envoy appointed in the final days of the Bush administration to accelerate and intensify the international effort for change in Burma.
Second, don't let the increasingly vocal and misplaced criticism of sanctions and international pressure result in a change in the US sanctions, but rather focus sanctions more sharply at their rightful target – the generals.
Third, step up pressure on the UN secretary-general, his special envoy and the security council to spell out meaningful benchmarks for progress, accompanied by a clear indication of the consequences if the regime fails to comply. The first such benchmark should be the release of political prisoners and the beginning of meaningful dialogue.
Fourth, consider invoking the UN's "responsibility to protect" mechanism in regard to Burma. The regime is perpetrating crimes against humanity, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, torture, forcible conscription of child soldiers, the use of human minesweepers and the destruction of more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma alone. Over a million people are internally displaced, and thousands more forced to flee the country. The situation surely meets "responsibility to protect" criteria. Lastly, the US should abandon its previous opposition to the international criminal court and seek a referral of a case against Burma's generals for crimes against humanity.
Burma's suffering under military rule has gone on for almost half a century. But in the past two years, the junta has surpassed itself in its level of callousness and brutality. The brutal suppression of Buddhist monks in September 2007, the deliberate restriction and diversion of aid following Cyclone Nargis last year, the sham referendum on a new constitution, the sentencing of dissidents to 65 years or more in jail and the regime's failure to help Chin people in western Burma facing famine are all examples of its barbaric nature.
The junta is gearing up to solidify and legitimise its rule through elections in 2010, but everyone knows what a sham the ballot will be. And yet various UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics have been painting an extraordinarily rosy picture of the situation, which has little relation to reality.
Bush may have made many mistakes, but unlike many in the international community he did not pussyfoot about on Burma. Obama may be more predisposed toward consensual multilateral politics than his predecessor, but he should not do so at the cost of yet more lives in Burma. Be more favourable toward the UN, by all means Mr Obama – but give it back the spine it has lost.
Thursday 12th February, 2009
((Op-ed) Benedict Rogers - The Guardian)
As President Barack Obama dismantles the legacy of the Bush administration, there is one area in which he should actually emulate and build on his predecessor's record: Burma.
Whatever else one thinks of George Bush, few could deny the contribution he, and particularly his wife Laura, made to raising the profile of the suffering in Burma. In 2005, he spent almost an hour in the Oval Office with a young Shan woman activist from Burma, Charm Tong, and heard about the military regime's use of rape as a weapon of war.
In 2006, a day after former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu published a report calling for Burma to be placed on the UN security council agenda, the US declared its support for the initiative.
The US consistently led the way in raising Burma at the security council and seeking a resolution, initially with slow and grudging support from its natural allies. The US has the only meaningful set of sanctions against the regime, and in the past two years it has sought to tighten and target them further.
Laura Bush became a particular champion of Burma, making personal telephone calls to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, hosting a roundtable at the UN in New York and holding her own press conference after Cyclone Nargis in which she strongly condemned the military regime's denial of aid to the victims. Last year, on a visit to Thailand, Mr Bush met Burmese dissidents in the US embassy in Bangkok, and his wife visited a refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border. For all their faults, the former president and first lady were consistent in highlighting the crisis in Burma and increasing international pressure on the junta.
As President Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton develop their foreign policy, they face many challenges, not least in the Middle East. Africa will understandably be a priority, given the scale of poverty on the continent and the president's own personal roots. Relations with Pakistan and China will be of strategic importance, and like Africa, the president will have a particular interest in Indonesia having spent part of his childhood there. But amid this long list of issues, the new administration must not lose sight of the dire situation in Burma.
There are five key ways in which the new administration can build on the previous government's record on Burma. First, keep raising Burma at every opportunity, within the UN and with Burma's neighbours. Empower the US special envoy appointed in the final days of the Bush administration to accelerate and intensify the international effort for change in Burma.
Second, don't let the increasingly vocal and misplaced criticism of sanctions and international pressure result in a change in the US sanctions, but rather focus sanctions more sharply at their rightful target – the generals.
Third, step up pressure on the UN secretary-general, his special envoy and the security council to spell out meaningful benchmarks for progress, accompanied by a clear indication of the consequences if the regime fails to comply. The first such benchmark should be the release of political prisoners and the beginning of meaningful dialogue.
Fourth, consider invoking the UN's "responsibility to protect" mechanism in regard to Burma. The regime is perpetrating crimes against humanity, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, torture, forcible conscription of child soldiers, the use of human minesweepers and the destruction of more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma alone. Over a million people are internally displaced, and thousands more forced to flee the country. The situation surely meets "responsibility to protect" criteria. Lastly, the US should abandon its previous opposition to the international criminal court and seek a referral of a case against Burma's generals for crimes against humanity.
Burma's suffering under military rule has gone on for almost half a century. But in the past two years, the junta has surpassed itself in its level of callousness and brutality. The brutal suppression of Buddhist monks in September 2007, the deliberate restriction and diversion of aid following Cyclone Nargis last year, the sham referendum on a new constitution, the sentencing of dissidents to 65 years or more in jail and the regime's failure to help Chin people in western Burma facing famine are all examples of its barbaric nature.
The junta is gearing up to solidify and legitimise its rule through elections in 2010, but everyone knows what a sham the ballot will be. And yet various UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics have been painting an extraordinarily rosy picture of the situation, which has little relation to reality.
Bush may have made many mistakes, but unlike many in the international community he did not pussyfoot about on Burma. Obama may be more predisposed toward consensual multilateral politics than his predecessor, but he should not do so at the cost of yet more lives in Burma. Be more favourable toward the UN, by all means Mr Obama – but give it back the spine it has lost.
Christian Today - Call to prayer for Burma's oppressed Karen minority
Christian Today - Call to prayer for Burma's oppressed Karen minority
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 14:01 (GMT)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide is calling for prayers for Burma this weekend on the first anniversary of a Karen leader in Burma.
The Karen are a minority ethnic group living mainly in Burma's Irrawaddy delta that includes many Christians among its numbers.
The former General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, was assassinated by agents of the Burmese regime on 14 February 2008. He was shot dead by gunmen at his home in Maesot, on the Thai-Burmese border, just three days after meeting a CSW delegation.
CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, Benedict Rogers said: “I had the privilege of knowing Padoh Mahn Sha well. He was dedicated not only to his own Karen people, but to the cause of freedom for all the people of Burma. He had a remarkable ability to unite people of different political, ethnic and religious backgrounds, and a vision for a peaceful, democratic, federal Burma with respect for human rights for all. He paid the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of that vision, but the cause he lived and died for lives on."
Mr Rogers called on people around the world to remember the people of Burma and particularly the Karen, who he said "continue to suffer at the hands of one of the world’s most brutal regimes".
"We urge people to unite, and to pray for peace and freedom for Burma," he said.
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 14:01 (GMT)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide is calling for prayers for Burma this weekend on the first anniversary of a Karen leader in Burma.
The Karen are a minority ethnic group living mainly in Burma's Irrawaddy delta that includes many Christians among its numbers.
The former General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, was assassinated by agents of the Burmese regime on 14 February 2008. He was shot dead by gunmen at his home in Maesot, on the Thai-Burmese border, just three days after meeting a CSW delegation.
CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, Benedict Rogers said: “I had the privilege of knowing Padoh Mahn Sha well. He was dedicated not only to his own Karen people, but to the cause of freedom for all the people of Burma. He had a remarkable ability to unite people of different political, ethnic and religious backgrounds, and a vision for a peaceful, democratic, federal Burma with respect for human rights for all. He paid the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of that vision, but the cause he lived and died for lives on."
Mr Rogers called on people around the world to remember the people of Burma and particularly the Karen, who he said "continue to suffer at the hands of one of the world’s most brutal regimes".
"We urge people to unite, and to pray for peace and freedom for Burma," he said.
People's Daily Online - Japan to provide more aid to rebuild houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
People's Daily Online - Japan to provide more aid to rebuild houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
+-13:32, February 12, 2009
The Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit regions, the Yangon Times weekly quoted the Japanese Embassy as reporting Thursday.
A total of 374,391 houses in Ayeyawaddy division and 371,373 in Yangon division were destroyed in the cyclone that hit Myanmar last year, the report said.
Early this month, the Japanese government had provided 2 million dollars through the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help in agricultural restoration work in the country's Ayeyawaddy delta after storm.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, according to earlier report.
Of the total, 22 million euros will be spent for those who had suffered disastrous cyclone Nargis last year, while the rest 18.5 million euros will be used for people who have difficulties with their living.
Besides, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the MercyMalaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye, one of Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy delta, the earlier report said.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
+-13:32, February 12, 2009
The Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit regions, the Yangon Times weekly quoted the Japanese Embassy as reporting Thursday.
A total of 374,391 houses in Ayeyawaddy division and 371,373 in Yangon division were destroyed in the cyclone that hit Myanmar last year, the report said.
Early this month, the Japanese government had provided 2 million dollars through the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help in agricultural restoration work in the country's Ayeyawaddy delta after storm.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, according to earlier report.
Of the total, 22 million euros will be spent for those who had suffered disastrous cyclone Nargis last year, while the rest 18.5 million euros will be used for people who have difficulties with their living.
Besides, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the MercyMalaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye, one of Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy delta, the earlier report said.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Minivan News - President urges release of Burmese political prisoner
Minivan News - President urges release of Burmese political prisoner
11 February 2009
Maryam Omidi
Former political prisoner President Mohamed Nasheed has spoken out against the 14-year detention of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi by the Burmese military authorities.
In a strongly-worded letter to Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, President Nasheed urged him to seek a “more substantial result” in the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, has become a global symbol of non-violent resistance in the face of oppression by Burma’s military regime. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle to bring democracy to Burma.
Nasheed, an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience in 1991, was elected as president of the Maldives in the country's first multi-party elections in October 2008. He extended an invitation to Aung San Suu Kyi for his swearing in ceremony on 11 November 2008.
In his letter, Nasheed said he was concerned about the political situation in Burma, which he says has made no “tangible democratic progress”.
He writes about the Maldives’ multi-party elections last year, which resulted in the overthrow of a “30-year-old dictatorship”. The people of the Maldives, he writes, are with those “struggling to establish democracy in Burma”.
“It is extremely frustrating to watch the constant abuse of human rights by the leaders of Burma and the plight of more than 270 pro-democracy activists recently jailed, some given sentences of 100 years.
“As a former political prisoner myself, it is especially distressing to see that nearly 2000 political prisoners are currently languishing in the jails of Burma without hope of freedom.”
Nasheed ends his letter by calling the Burmese junta’s “Roadmap to Democracy” a sham which will not “pull wool over the eyes of the world”.
Article 19, a human rights organisation that campaigns for freedom of expression around the world, has welcomed the president’s letter.
In an email to Minivan News, director Agnes Callamard said, “Governments of the region, particularly member states of the Asean have been remarkably quiet in front of the plight of the people of Burma.
“Their silence amounts to condoning the Burmese authorities’ complete disregard for human rights, democracy and the rule of law as exemplified by their continued imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi and of all other prisoners of conscience.”
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San – a leader in Burma’s independence movement – who was assassinated in 1947.
On her return to Burma in 1988 after living abroad, the country was undergoing a major political upheaval, with thousands taking to the streets and demanding democratic reform.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of peaceful resistance as well as Buddhist tenets of pacifism, she formed the National League for Democracy (NLD), which aimed to expedite the democratisation process in Burma.
The same year, she was put under house arrest and was told she could walk free if she left the country – she refused.
In 1990, the junta called national elections and the NLD won in a landslide victory, even though Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest.
In her most well-known speech, “Freedom from fear”, she said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
11 February 2009
Maryam Omidi
Former political prisoner President Mohamed Nasheed has spoken out against the 14-year detention of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi by the Burmese military authorities.
In a strongly-worded letter to Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, President Nasheed urged him to seek a “more substantial result” in the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, has become a global symbol of non-violent resistance in the face of oppression by Burma’s military regime. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle to bring democracy to Burma.
Nasheed, an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience in 1991, was elected as president of the Maldives in the country's first multi-party elections in October 2008. He extended an invitation to Aung San Suu Kyi for his swearing in ceremony on 11 November 2008.
In his letter, Nasheed said he was concerned about the political situation in Burma, which he says has made no “tangible democratic progress”.
He writes about the Maldives’ multi-party elections last year, which resulted in the overthrow of a “30-year-old dictatorship”. The people of the Maldives, he writes, are with those “struggling to establish democracy in Burma”.
“It is extremely frustrating to watch the constant abuse of human rights by the leaders of Burma and the plight of more than 270 pro-democracy activists recently jailed, some given sentences of 100 years.
“As a former political prisoner myself, it is especially distressing to see that nearly 2000 political prisoners are currently languishing in the jails of Burma without hope of freedom.”
Nasheed ends his letter by calling the Burmese junta’s “Roadmap to Democracy” a sham which will not “pull wool over the eyes of the world”.
Article 19, a human rights organisation that campaigns for freedom of expression around the world, has welcomed the president’s letter.
In an email to Minivan News, director Agnes Callamard said, “Governments of the region, particularly member states of the Asean have been remarkably quiet in front of the plight of the people of Burma.
“Their silence amounts to condoning the Burmese authorities’ complete disregard for human rights, democracy and the rule of law as exemplified by their continued imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi and of all other prisoners of conscience.”
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San – a leader in Burma’s independence movement – who was assassinated in 1947.
On her return to Burma in 1988 after living abroad, the country was undergoing a major political upheaval, with thousands taking to the streets and demanding democratic reform.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of peaceful resistance as well as Buddhist tenets of pacifism, she formed the National League for Democracy (NLD), which aimed to expedite the democratisation process in Burma.
The same year, she was put under house arrest and was told she could walk free if she left the country – she refused.
In 1990, the junta called national elections and the NLD won in a landslide victory, even though Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest.
In her most well-known speech, “Freedom from fear”, she said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
UN News Centre - Myanmar: UN envoy concludes Asian consultations
UN News Centre - Myanmar: UN envoy concludes Asian consultations
12 February 2009 – On the heels of his most recent visit to Myanmar, the top United Nations envoy to the South-East Asian nation has wrapped up consultations in the region on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In Beijing, Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei, which whom he discussed the outcome of his four-day visit to Myanmar.
Mr. Gambari then travelled to Tokyo, where he met with Japanese Foreign Minister Nakasone and Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae. They conferred on how the international community can support the Secretary-General’s good offices efforts to promote the engagement in a democratic process by the people and Government of Myanmar.
During his visit to Myanmar, the fifth to the country in the past year and a half, the envoy met with Government officials and opposition and other political parties, including with detained pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Last week, the Secretary-General called on the country’s Government and opposition to resume substantive talks leading to national dialogue and reconciliation.
Security Council President Yukio Takasu of Japan told reporters today that Mr. Gambari will brief the 15-member body on 20 February.
12 February 2009 – On the heels of his most recent visit to Myanmar, the top United Nations envoy to the South-East Asian nation has wrapped up consultations in the region on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In Beijing, Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei, which whom he discussed the outcome of his four-day visit to Myanmar.
Mr. Gambari then travelled to Tokyo, where he met with Japanese Foreign Minister Nakasone and Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae. They conferred on how the international community can support the Secretary-General’s good offices efforts to promote the engagement in a democratic process by the people and Government of Myanmar.
During his visit to Myanmar, the fifth to the country in the past year and a half, the envoy met with Government officials and opposition and other political parties, including with detained pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Last week, the Secretary-General called on the country’s Government and opposition to resume substantive talks leading to national dialogue and reconciliation.
Security Council President Yukio Takasu of Japan told reporters today that Mr. Gambari will brief the 15-member body on 20 February.
UN Envoy, Japan Encourage Myanmar On Next Year's Elections
UN Envoy, Japan Encourage Myanmar On Next Year's Elections
TOKYO (AFP)--The U.N. envoy to Myanmar made a joint call Thursday with Japan for the military regime to move ahead with elections next year, saying the rest of the world would respond positively.
Ibrahim Gambari, a special advisor to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, was visiting Japan after spending four days in Myanmar where he tried to nudge the military regime toward dialogue with the democratic opposition.
The former Nigerian foreign minister spoke separately with detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Thein Sein, but failed to arrange for the two to meet.
Gambari in talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone "agreed that all the relevant parties need to participate in the democratization process of Myanmar," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
They agreed on "encouraging the Myanmar government to hold a general election in 2010 in a form that be congratulated by the international community," it said.
Nakasone told Gambari that the world would "react positively to a positive move" by the isolated regime.
"Even though there are few positive moves by the Myanmar government, it's a huge step for them to have announced that they would hold a general election in 2010, compared with two past decades of silence about its democratization process," said a foreign ministry official in charge of Japan's relations with Myanmar.
"If they take favorable action, the international community should react in a manner that encourages more positive actions," he said.
Japan, the top donor to Myanmar among the world's major developed economies, in 2003 suspended most assistance other than emergency aid and some training funding.
Japan cut its assistance further after Myanmar cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.
But Japan refuses to join Western allies in slapping punishing sanctions on Myanmar. China, which often spars with Japan for influence, is the main political and commercial partner of Myanmar.
TOKYO (AFP)--The U.N. envoy to Myanmar made a joint call Thursday with Japan for the military regime to move ahead with elections next year, saying the rest of the world would respond positively.
Ibrahim Gambari, a special advisor to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, was visiting Japan after spending four days in Myanmar where he tried to nudge the military regime toward dialogue with the democratic opposition.
The former Nigerian foreign minister spoke separately with detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Thein Sein, but failed to arrange for the two to meet.
Gambari in talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone "agreed that all the relevant parties need to participate in the democratization process of Myanmar," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
They agreed on "encouraging the Myanmar government to hold a general election in 2010 in a form that be congratulated by the international community," it said.
Nakasone told Gambari that the world would "react positively to a positive move" by the isolated regime.
"Even though there are few positive moves by the Myanmar government, it's a huge step for them to have announced that they would hold a general election in 2010, compared with two past decades of silence about its democratization process," said a foreign ministry official in charge of Japan's relations with Myanmar.
"If they take favorable action, the international community should react in a manner that encourages more positive actions," he said.
Japan, the top donor to Myanmar among the world's major developed economies, in 2003 suspended most assistance other than emergency aid and some training funding.
Japan cut its assistance further after Myanmar cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.
But Japan refuses to join Western allies in slapping punishing sanctions on Myanmar. China, which often spars with Japan for influence, is the main political and commercial partner of Myanmar.
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