U.S. pushing for Myanmar resolution later this year

September 30 (Kyodo) - John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council on Friday that he intends to press for a resolution on Myanmar later this year if the current situation does not change.

"The regime should understand that the Security Council believes that the time has come for the suffering of the Burmese people to end and for democratic change to begin for the benefit of all the Burmese people and peace and stability in the region," Bolton said in comments before the other council members.

"We intend to work for a Security Council resolution later this year," he added if the present situation did not change. "As part of this effort, we will consult fully with other members of the council, and hope all of them can support a resolution at an appropriate time."

Among key concerns are the fact that Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, has spent 10 of the last 17 years in confinement and has been held under house arrest since May 2003.

Although the NLD won the 1990 general election by a landslide, it was blocked by the military junta from taking power.

On Sept. 18 on the sidelines of the 61st General Assembly session, Bolton pointed out that U.S. President George W. Bush's wife, Laura, held a roundtable on Burma with experts on transnational and political issues, human rights and humanitarian affairs.

"Eyewitnesses to the tragedy in Burma and other experts painted a grim picture," he said, noting that the country has one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in Asia and that there are forced relocations and conflicts with ethnic minority groups.

Moreover, there are labor practice violations, human trafficking problems, as well as drug issues, and the continued detention of large numbers of political prisoners, the U.S. envoy said.

The 15-member Security Council was also briefed for the third time by Ibrahim Gambari, U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, and he is planning to make a visit to the country at the beginning of November.

Gambari said that council members' reactions to his presentation were "quite positive," and that he painted a comprehensive picture of the complex picture of Myanmar .

While he spoke of some progress, such as the release of at least one political prisoner, he also said that "there's still a lot of work to be done in the four issues that I raised to top leadership in Myanmar the last time I was there."

The four issues of concern include the request to free political prisoners, to make the democratization process more inclusive, the cessation of hostilities against the Karen people and improving access to those in need.

"I think it is important to say that my engagement with the government of Myanmar should not be for the sake of engagement, but we expect some results in terms of concrete progress in addressing the issues I mentioned," he added.

Also speaking to reporters after the special meeting was Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, who backed efforts to implement freedoms, tackle poverty and work with the government of Myanmar .

"I'm not looking for a punitive resolution at this stage," he said. "The truth is that the sanctions approach, the embrace of ASEAN, neither has been successful, and what we need to do is to craft something that at the end of the day has more chance of working and benefits the people of that country."