October 25, 2007

Myanmar Official Meets With Opposition Leader

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader, met for more than an hour today with a government official in the first sign that the military junta that has ruled the country since 1962 might be loosening its grip on power.

The latest protests in Myanmar and the ensuing military crackdown have caused outrage worldwide and have prompted foreign governments to consider punitive actions. President Bush announced last week that the U.S. would impose tougher economic conditions on the country if its leaders did not stop the brutal repression of its citizens; he expressed hope that other nations would take similar steps. However, China, Russia and India have refused to implement such sanctions, and their opposition to retaliatory measures has prevented the United Nations from taking more than symbolic action.

U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari traveled to the country in early October to pressure government leaders to broker peace with Suu Kyi. In response, the Myanmar government appointed a "minister for relations," who is in charge of managing Suu Kyi's interaction with the government and the U.N. Aung Kyi, a retired major general with a reputation of being more open and available than many of Myanmar's other officials, held the talks with Suu Kyi today.

A Nobel peace laureate, Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory in popular elections in 1990 but was prevented from taking power by the junta.

While today's meeting is an important first step toward reconciliation between the government and the popular democratic leader, experts caution that it could merely be a gesture to pacify the junta's loudest critics.

The New York Times and AP have more on today's meeting. AP also predicts the potential fallout if Myanmar's military junta were to fall from power.

Posted at 4:15 PM
Posted to: Asia, President Bush, U.N.
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