US presses UN over Myanmar

Oct 6 (Indo-Asian News Service) - The US State Department exerted veiled pressure on the United Nations, urging the international body to keep its eye on the situation in Myanmar.

Washington continues to refer to that Southeast Asian country by its old name Burma rather than Myanmar, a name given by the dictatorial regime ruling that country - a sign of its displeasure with the junta in Rangoon, now called Yangon.

While commending UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for convening a Sep 29 meeting with his special envoy to Myanmar, Ambassador Razali Ismail and concerned UN members said, "We hope that the Secretary General will remain focused on this matter and that his engagement will generate more international community cooperation on this vital issue."

Washington also urged Myanmarese authorities to allow Ambassador Razali to return to Burma without delay and to conduct follow-up visits as he deems necessary.

"The United States remains deeply concerned by the continued detention of courageous democracy advocate and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the failure of the junta to permit the National League for Democracy to open its offices nationwide and operate freely, the junta's refusal to release over a thousand political prisoners, and by the recent arrest of political activist U Ohne Thant and the sentencing of four NLD members for illegal political activities," asserted the State Department.

As President Bush said at the UN General Assembly when he quoted Aung San Suu Kyi: "We do not accept the notion that democracy is a Western value. To the contrary democracy simply means good government rooted in responsibility, transparency, and accountability," the State Department reiterated.

It called for "tangible steps," including the immediate releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, the full and free participation of National League for Democracy and representatives of the ethnic minorities in the National Convention and the initiation of a meaningful dialogue to advance national reconciliation and the establishment of democracy.

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