Aung San Suu Kyi' Dissatisfied' Over Talks With Junta

by Mungpi
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 00:00

Noble peace laureate opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under detention has expressed her dissatisfaction with the current pace of talks for political reforms in Burma, spokesmen of her party the National League for Democracy said on Wednesday.

The Burmese democracy icon told her party leaders in no uncertain terms during a rare meeting today, that she is frustrated over the lack of progress on talks for political reforms in the country with the ruling junta. The meetings with the military junta's Liaison Minister have not been fruitful.

Nyan Win, NLD spokesperson, who was among the seven NLD leaders who met detained the party secretary today, said, "She is not satisfied with the current pace of talks. She would like to see concrete progress."

For the second time in three months, Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed a rare meeting with her party leaders for 90 minutes in the military guest house in Rangoon.

In the wake of the meeting, the junta's Liaison Minister Aung Kyi was said to have met Aung San Suu Kyi for the fifth time, since he was appointed mediator between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta Supremo Snr. Gen. Than Shwe.

Aung San Suu Kyi said, while the meetings, both with the NLD leaders and Aung Kyi, do not show any sign of progress, "Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst," Nyan Win quoted her as saying.

In the course of the meeting, Aung San Suu Kyi briefed them about the details of her fourth meeting with Aung Kyi but expressed concern that the meetings, including the second meeting with party leaders, might give rise to "false hope", Nyan Win said.

Aung San Suu Kyi told Aung Kyi that the talks must include representatives of Burma's many ethnic groups, who are fighting for autonomy or independence for the last five decades.

"She also said talks should not be delayed for too long," said Nyan Win adding that NLD had asked the regime to allow party leaders to have frequent meetings with her to discuss party affairs as well as the current status of the talks.

The talks, which began in the aftermath of the bloody crackdown on protesters in September, have not yielded any meaningful dividend, Nyan Win said.

The monk-led protest in September, which was the biggest threat to the Burmese junta in nearly two decades, was brutally suppressed by the iron fisted regime. The UN said at least 31 people died and 74 went missing during the crackdown, but activists believe the number to be higher.

In a bid to counter international outrage, the Burmese junta, allowed visits by UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari and UN rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro to the strife torn country.

Following the visits by the UN envoys, the junta assured that it will stop arresting and detaining dissidents, a promise it did not live up to.

The police on Tuesday arrested a Burmese blogger, Nay Phone Latt, from an internet café in Rangoon, his friends and colleagues said. Similarly, a Burmese poet, Saw Wai, was arrested last week for publishing a Valentine's Day poem, which had the words "Power Crazy Than Shwe" when the initial words of the lines were put together.