A UN special envoy arrived in Myanmar yesterday to demand the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, reported to have been injured in a clash that prompted her detention and a crackdown on her party.
Razali Ismail began a five-day mission amid mounting pressure from the international community on the Myanmar regime to allow him to meet the Nobel peace laureate. He was greeted at Yangon airport by Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win and foreign diplomats.
PHOTO: AP
Myanmar has not allowed access to Suu Kyi since the May 30 clash, saying only she is unhurt and in custody at "a safe place." Offices of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party have been shut and other opposition figures detained.
The US alleges evidence from the site of the clash in the country's north suggested it was an ambush by pro-junta thugs and that many more people may have been killed than the four cited by the Myanmar government.
"I'm not an investigator [but] I hope I will be able to get factual details of what took place after talking to all sides," Razali, a Malaysian, said at the airport in Kuala Lumpur before departing for Myanmar. "I am making a strong bid to get [Suu Kyi] released immediately."
Razali, who in late 2000 helped broker reconciliation talks between Suu Kyi and the government, has pressed ahead with his first visit to the military state in seven months, although the junta has not guaranteed he will be able to meet with the NLD leader.
Razali declined to speak to reporters after arriving in Myanmar, saying only: "I'm in the hands of the government here."
Exiled opposition figures in Thailand say Suu Kyi may have received head injuries in the violence, which they say left up to 70 people dead. They allege the clash was planned by the junta to justify a crackdown on the NLD.
US officials said Thursday that some of those claims were corroborated by diplomats who visited the scene.
"Circumstances and reports from individuals in the region indicate that the attack was conducted by government-affiliated thugs," US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said in Washington. "The debris remaining at the scene suggests a major clash, which could easily have resulted in serious injuries to large numbers of people."
A senior member of Suu Kyi's party said yesterday that in the past three days at least four opposition politicians who work closely with Suu Kyi have been taken from their homes in Yangon by authorities.
International human rights group Amnesty International said yesterday that it had received reports that other NLD members had been detained this week in central and northern Myanmar, and that it is gravely concerned about more than 100 people missing since the violence.
The crackdown appears to have increased the possibility of more international sanctions against Myanmar, which already faces limited economic and diplomatic restrictions in its dealings with Western nations.
Leading US lawmakers Wednesday called for new sanctions, including a ban on exports from the Asian nation.
If Razali is not permitted to see Suu Kyi, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, Myanmar's authorities "must recognize that there will be consequences."
US, European and Japanese diplomats greeted Razali at the airport. He has not been met by diplomats at the airport on previous visits.
Razali last visited Myanmar in November last year, and military authorities have since rejected four of his requests to return to the country, diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
The reconciliation talks brokered by Razali started more than two years ago had provided hope the country's political impasse could be bridged, but the dialogue reached a standstill last year. The stalemate dates to 1990, when Suu Kyi's party's won general election but was blocked by the military from taking power.
The May 30 violence has all but dashed hopes of reconciliation.
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