UN Envoy Meets Top Generals amid More Arrests by Soldiers
By Wai Moe
October 2, 2007
The UN’s special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, met separately with the junta’s top generals in the remote capital of Naypyidaw on Tuesday in a bid to help solve the current political crisis. On the way back to Rangoon, Gambari held a second meeting with the detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.  | | United Nations official Ibrahim Gambari meets with Burma's top Generals [Photo: AFP/UNIC-HO] |
In Naypyidaw, nearly 400 km northwest of Rangoon, the former capital, Gambari met Snr-Gen Than Shwe, his deputy, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye and the junta’s No. 3 Gen Thura Shwe Mann. Also present was acting Prime Minister Lt-Gen Thein Sein. Details of the meeting were not available. On Sunday, one day after he arrived at Burma, Gambari talked with Suu Kyi for 90 minutes at a government guest house. It's believed that the topic of discussion focused on how to create reconciliation in the country. The majority of the Burmese people expect little from Gambari's meetings. A leading monk in the recent protests said the junta has always tricked UN special envoys. The monk, who asked not to be named, said by telephone from Rangoon that he wondered if Gambari knows about the generals' tricks. “Even if Gambari knows the junta’s tricks, what can the UN Security Council do for us Burmese people?” the monk asked. "At every night, we monks are waiting when the junta’s troops raid our monastery," he said. In recent weeks, soldiers violently raided several monasteries in Rangoon and arrested hundreds of monks. As many as 2,000 monks are being detained at detention centers and confined in their monasteries. Tun Myint Aung, a leader of the 88 Generation Students group, said the UN envoy’s trip was “still hopeless” because the junta didn’t give up its violent repression of peaceful protesters, including monks. Rangoon residents say people are being pulled out of buses by security forces and hired thugs on the streets of Rangoon while people walking along the streets are sometimes stopped and searched by soldiers. The residents say there are many checkpoints on Rangoon streets. Security forces pull passengers from bus or taxi and they are arrested, if they look suspicious to authorities. The security forces singles out people with MP3 players, recorders and cameras, especially young people. Tun Myint Aung said many people believe that only interventions from international communities, such as the UN or NATO, can help the Burmese people and stop the violent crackdowns. A Burmese scholar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok noted that international pressure on the Burmese junta was stronger, but most Burmese do not see any effective actions from the international community so far. A National League for Democracy spokeperson, Nyan Win, said Gambari’s trip was different from previous trips. On his last trip, he met Suu Kyi and the generals and then returned to New York, but this time he met Suu Kyi, talked to Than Shwe, and then returned again to talk to Suu Kyi. But Nyan Win said Gambari or even Ban Ki Moon do not have real power to take effective actions on behalf of the Burmese people. Meanwhile arrests and raids continue. During Gambari's visit, the junta held pro-government mass rallies across Burma. Observers say people were forced to join the rallies. During Gambari’s trip, thousands of monks remained virtual prisoners in their monasteries. Monks are now restricted from going out on daily alms rounds among the people. On September 29 when Gambari arrived in Burma, residents, including children, on Anawrahta Road in downtown Rangoon were pulled out from their apartments and arrested during overnight operations by troops, said a woman who witnessed the arrests. Reports on October 1 say three people were arrested during protests at Sanchaung Township in Rangoon. At least five people were arrested near the University of Rangoon after protesters staged a guerrilla-style demonstration. In Kyeemyindaing Township, a man, Aung Thein, was arrested at his home in connection with the protests. A human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), estimates that up to 400 people were arrested during the UN special envoy’s visit to the country.
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