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Gambari Optimistic On Expedited Return To Burma |
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by Mizzima News
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Wednesday, 20 February 2008 00:00 |
The United Nations Special Envoy to Burma is leaving Beijing optimistic of an earlier return to Burma and hailing the Burmese junta's electoral timetable as "significant."
Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N.'s Special Envoy, told reporters in Beijing yesterday that he is confident of receiving an invitation to return to Burma ahead of the current junta-established timeline of mid-April.
His remarks followed discussions with Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, and highlight the influence China is believed to hold on Burma's generals.
Gambari's response to the junta's announcement last week of a timetable for a referendum and elections contrasts sharply with the reaction from North America, Europe and human rights organizations, who roundly denounced the junta's initiative as a thinly veiled ruse.
"This is a significant step as it marks the first time that we have an established time frame for the implementation of its political roadmap," were the words of the Special Envoy in Beijing.
However he did balance his tempered support for the announcement by calling on the immediate establishment of an all inclusive dialogue.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had earlier responded to the timetable in similar words by saying, "it is now all the more important for the Myanmar leadership to engage without delay in a substantive and time-bound dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other relevant parties to the national reconciliation process."
Though focusing on his talks with Chinese authorities and the roll that country can play in assisting the United Nations mission, he also stressed that it is crucial for the international community to come together in "sending the right message to authorities in Myanmar to continue to cooperate."
A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry again brought notice of China's disapproval on the use of sanctions.
Meanwhile, at an ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in Singapore yesterday, Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win was straightforward in informing his peers that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to stand for election in 2010.
Calling the condition regrettable, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo echoed ASEAN's long held position of non-interference in domestic affairs of member countries to reporters afterward: "It is their own country, that is their own history and what can we do about it?"
Gambari is set to continue his latest trip with stops in Singapore, Japan and Indonesia.
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