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UN Envoy Tries to Ease Tensions in Myanmar

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By Seth Mydans

New York Times
October 1, 2007

A United Nations envoy to Myanmar met Sunday with the detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and with several members of the military junta that last week crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising, the United Nations said. The envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, spent more than an hour at a government guesthouse in the main city, Yangon, with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. He spent Saturday and Sunday nights in the administrative capital, Naypyidaw, 200 miles north of Yangon, where he met with government officials but not the top two leaders.

Soldiers patrolled the quiet streets of Yangon on Sunday after days of the military's violent crackdown on demonstrations, led by Buddhist monks, that had grown over more than a week to as many as 100,000 people. More arrests were reported overnight and hundreds of monks remained in detention after leading the biggest challenge to the junta since it took power 19 years ago. Human rights groups and diplomats said the death toll was far higher than the 10 reported by the junta.

At least four local journalists, including Min Zaw, the Burmese correspondent for the Japanese daily Tokyo Shimbun, have been arrested, and several others are missing and presumed arrested, news media organizations said. About 10 Burmese reporters have been physically attacked or prevented from working, including reporters for the foreign news agencies Reuters and Agence France-Presse, according to Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association.

"The crackdown appears to have terrified people enough to stay out of the streets," said the chief representative of the United States in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa. She said that some monasteries appeared to be deserted Sunday and that "one can only wonder what has happened to all the monks." Ms. Villarosa said the military must now seek a peaceful resolution through a dialogue with the opposition "rather than just relying on gunfire, which has succeeded in clearing the streets but does not address the underlying grievances of the people." Mr. Gambari traveled to Myanmar as the representative of a world that has watched in outrage as a military government that has ruled through force ordered troops to fire into crowds of demonstrators.

Some analysts doubted that the visit could have a significant effect on a ruling clique that has resisted all international efforts to modify its behavior. Visits by United Nations envoys have failed to bring reconciliation between the junta and the opposition or secure the release of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi. Mr. Gambari visited her a year ago, the last time she had been seen by any senior foreign diplomat. "Reconciliation is now farther away than ever from reality," said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst who is based in Thailand. "The military's violent response took the lid off the anger and pent-up frustration that has accumulated over the past 19 years and it will be difficult for the military administration to put things back in order."

Analysts said a key to modifying Myanmar's behavior would be pressure from China, its main trading partner and its political buffer between the outside world. On Saturday, China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, said China was "very much concerned about the current situation." He urged all parties in Myanmar to "use peaceful means to restore its stability as soon as possible." But there was no indication that China would join efforts to boycott or sanction Myanmar.

On Sunday, a senior Japanese official headed to Myanmar to protest the shooting death of a Japanese photographer, Kenji Nagai, 50, as he covered a military assault on protesters. His killing drew outrage in Japan, which is Myanmar's largest aid donor, giving about $25 million last year. But Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he would refrain for now from withdrawing aid or taking other steps. Video of the shooting, posted on YouTube, shows a helmeted soldier running up behind Mr. Nagai and apparently pushing him to the ground before shooting him and running on. Mr. Nagai then momentarily raised his arms, camera in hand, and then lay still.

Several days ago, the authorities shut down access to the Internet, and the police reportedly began to search pedestrians and to confiscate cameras in a continuing effort to halt the flow of video images and photographs. The United Nations' World Food Program reported that it had received assurances that it could resume delivering aid to hundreds of thousands of people who had been cut off by government restrictions on transportation.

 

 

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