The international community yesterday welcomed the start of historic contacts between Myanmar's junta and the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and urged both sides to work towards national reconciliation.
The UN confirmed that Aung San Suu Kyi has held several meetings with a top junta general, as signs emerged that they were poised to begin an official dialogue that could end a decade of political stalemate.
PHOTO: AFP
"There have been talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the Myanmar government which started towards the end of last year," UN envoy Razali Ismail, the broker of the secret talks, said.
Razali left Yangon Tuesday at the end of his third mission to Myanmar where he had been striving to bring the bitter adversaries together for the first time since 1994.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Secretary General Kofi Annan was "encouraged to learn that during his mission, Razali was able to confirm that the two sides had started a direct dialogue since last October."
Annan "reiterates his call for the two sides to seize the momentum and work for national reconciliation." Eckhard said Razali had reported "they were satisfied with the results achieved so far in the area of confidence-building."
"The two sides are expected to start more substantive discussions shortly."
During his five-day visit Razali met with top government officials and was twice permitted to see Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since Sep. 22.
Eckard said the meetings were the Nobel laureate's first contact with an outside visitor in nearly three months.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright welcomed news of the secret meetings and applauded the role played by Razali, a veteran Malaysian diplomat who has won the confidence of both sides on Myanmar's political divide.
"One of the things that we wanted to have is the establishment of such a dialogue," she said.
Albright warned that the generals must treat Aung San Suu Kyi as a political leader when they finally meet with her and not as a "little sister" -- one of their derogatory terms for the Nobel peace laureate.
The Secretary of State, a consistent supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi, said the military must not be allowed to submit the opposition leader to "patronizing and cruel conversations that were evident when I was there."
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