US hopes Suu Kyi’s proposal will pave way for political dialogue

by Mungpi

Friday, 20 November 2009 21:13

New Delhi (Mizzima) - The United States on Thursday said it is aware of detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal to the ruling junta supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe and hoped that it would lead to a dialogue between the two.

“We’re aware of the letter that she’s written to the senior general, and we hope that this will be the beginning of a dialogue that will lead to her release,” Ian Kelly, spokesperson of the State Department said during a regular press briefing on Thursday in Washington.

Kelly was referring to Aung San Suu Kyi’s letter sent to Than Shwe by her party spokesperson on November 11.

The detained Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate, in her letter, proposed a meeting with Than Shwe in order to further discuss activities that will benefit the nation. She also requested to allow her to pay homage to aging party leaders at their homes and a meeting with her party central executive committee.

This was the second letter that the Burmese pro-democracy leader has sent to Than Shwe. The first letter in September met with a positive response, where she was allowed to meet diplomats from the United States, European Union, and Australia as she had requested.

Opposition leaders, including ethnic politicians, have expressed hope that the correspondence between the military chief and Aung San Suu Kyi would lead to positive developments.

Aye Thar Aung of the Committee Representing Peoples’ Parliament, a group formed with various political parties, earlier told Mizzima, “I think Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal is the right choice and is a smart move. But this needs to take the direction of national reconciliation.”

The United States, since announcing its new policy, has begun meeting Burmese officials, with a high-level delegation visiting the Southeast Asian nation in early November.

The new US policy, which for the first time in over a decade opened a channel of engagement, demanded that Burma’s military rulers improve human rights situations and implement political reforms, before it can lift sanctions, which are still in place.

Kelly said, the US has begun “a very focused” dialogue with Burma’s military regime. The dialogue is focused on the need for the Southeast Asian nation to open up its political system for more debate and discussion.

“And I think one of the best steps that they could take to show that they [the junta] are willing to open up their system is to release political prisoners. There are over 2,000 of them. And of course, we’ve called, in particular, for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,” Kelly added.