Alatas unsure of meeting with Suu Kyi<\/p>\n
Aung Hla Tun, Reuters, Yangon<\/p>\n
Indonesian special envoy Ali Alatas went into meetings with
\nMyanmar's military government on Monday sounding less certain
\nthat he would meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as
\nshe recovered from surgery.<\/p>\n
Alatas, whose country is the current chairman of the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), one of the few
\ngroups willing to have Myanmar as a member, had said on arrival
\nin Yangon on Sunday he expected to meet Suu Kyi, detained more
\nthan three months ago.<\/p>\n
But on Monday, the former Indonesian foreign minister said it
\nwas up to the Myanmar government whether he would see the woman
\nwhose cause he apparently came to plead ahead of a summit of the
\n10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations in Bali next
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
\"I requested to see Aung San Suu Kyi before I came here, but I
\nheard that she underwent a major operation, so I leave this
\nmatter completely to the government,\" Alatas told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Alatas was carrying a special message from Indonesian
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri for new Myanmar Prime Minister
\nKhin Nyunt, who is also military intelligence chief.<\/p>\n
There has been no word on the contents of the message, but
\nIndonesia has been vociferous -- unusually so in an organization
\nwhich avoids festering antagonisms by shunning comments on each
\nother's affairs -- in demanding Suu Kyi be released.<\/p>\n
That reflects an uneasiness at holding the summit with Myanmar
\npresent while the 1991 Nobel peace prize laureate, held since a
\nMay clash between her supporters and members of a progovernment
\ngroup, was still detained.<\/p>\n
There was no comment from either side on the meeting between
\nAlatas and Khin Nyunt and diplomats said the Indonesian envoy was
\nscheduled to meet military leader Than Shwe on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Diplomats said Alatas, a veteran diplomat, might find it hard
\nto persuade the military government to release Suu Kyi after it
\nhas ignored protests and sanctions for detaining her in a secret
\nlocation.<\/p>\n
\"Of course he is a very clever and experienced diplomat and
\nvery friendly with the ruling military in Myanmar,\" said one
\nAsian diplomat in Yangon.<\/p>\n
\"But if his mission is to negotiate the immediate release of
\nAung San Suu Kyi, I think he's fighting a lost cause,\" he said.
\n\"We think the Myanmar government may not want to release Aung San
\nSuu Kyi at the moment, unless they can reach a common ground with
\nher about their political program.\"<\/p>\n
Gen. Khin Nyunt became prime minister last month and announced
\na \"road map\" to democracy which would include negotiations with
\nSuu Kyi's National League for Democracy on a new constitution. He
\ndid not offer a timetable.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, there has been speculation that Suu Kyi's
\noperation opens up a face-saving way out for the military
\ngovernment before the ASEAN summit on Oct. 7 and 8.<\/p>\n
It provides an opportunity to allow Suu Kyi, 58, to return to
\nher Yangon home to convalesce under house arrest, as she has been
\nfor more than half the last 14 years.<\/p>\n
There has been no confirmation of the nature of the operation
\non Suu Kyi. Her doctor, Tin Myo Win, said only that she was fine
\nand the surgery showed no signs of cancer. He said no visitors
\nwere allowed to prevent any chance of infection.<\/p>\n
Hospital sources said Suu Kyi had her uterus removed.<\/p>\n
Suu Kyi's last contact with the outside world was two weeks
\nago when the Red Cross found her in good health and eating after
\nthe United States said she was on a hunger strike.<\/p>\n
Yangon says Suu Kyi is being held for her own protection and
\nrefuses to free her despite international outrage and tougher
\nsanctions imposed by the United States and European Union.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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