ASEAN and UN must work closely over Myanmar: Razali

ASEAN and UN must work closely over Myanmar: Razali

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur/Bangkok

The United Nations' envoy on Myanmar said on Monday the global
body should work closely with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to try to end a deadlock between Myanmar's
military rulers and Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement.

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been detained
in a secret location since May 30 when her supporters clashed
with a pro-junta mob in northern Myanmar.

After her arrest, the military cracked down on her National
League for Democracy (NLD) party, halting a reconciliation
process brokered in October 2000 by the UN's special envoy to
Myanmar, Razali Ismail.

"The United Nations and ASEAN should coordinate their efforts
to send similar signals that Suu Kyi should be released
immediately and the reconciliation process should move forward,"
Razali told The Associated Press on Monday.

The NLD won national elections in 1990, but was denied the
chance to rule because the military refused to relinquish power.

Razali, a Malaysian diplomat who has led international efforts
to end the long-running standoff between Myanmar's ruling junta
and the NLD, is the only person who has been allowed to see Suu
Kyi since she was detained.

Suu Kyi's arrest has prompted intense pressure on Myanmar,
including the threat of international sanctions and an unusually
strong stand from ASEAN, which stepped outside its core policy of
not commenting on member countries' internal affairs to urge the
junta to immediately release Suu Kyi.

During talks with Razali on Monday, Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra urged the United Nations to persuade Myanmar's
other neighbors, such as China and India, to play a bigger role
in ending the deadlock.

Razali said his discussion with Thaksin had been "very useful"
but didn't mention if they had discussed Thailand's "road map" -
a plan announced last week that proposes bringing together "like
minded" countries and groups within Myanmar.

Thailand intends to pursue its "road map" proposal aimed at
securing the release of Suu Kyi despite a cool response from the
junta.

Razali said he would stay in close touch with Thailand's
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, and would soon travel to
Jakarta for talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan
Wirayuda.

Thaksin said on Monday the Myanmar opposition leader should
walk free at once as part of a process to launch democratic
reforms in the military-ruled country.

Thaksin has taken a lead in efforts by Myanmar's neighbors in
Southeast Asia to resolve a crisis over the latest detention of
the Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy activist.

"We experienced transforming ourselves to democracy from a
very military-led government and we would like to see a more
democratic process moving in Myanmar," the prime minister told
Reuters in an interview on Malaysia's resort island of Langkawi.

"Even if it (is an) internal affair we think the whole world
is concerned about developments over there and especially the
minorities around the border with Thailand," Thaksin said.

Thaksin said Thailand would continue discussions with regional
nations on its plan for an international forum to brainstorm a
way out of the crisis that erupted after Suu Kyi was taken into
detention on May 30.

"We are doing it because we are concerned, we want Myanmar to
solve its problems so that the country will be able to develop,"
he told reporters, insisting that Thailand was not interfering in
Myanmar's domestic affairs.

"I know Myanmar is trying to solve its problems by itself but
the problems are not able to be solved by them alone," he said in
Bangkok after arriving from Malaysia where he held talks with his
counterpart Mahathir Mohamad.

Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win said on
Sunday that the regime had not received any details of the Thai
proposal which was unveiled last week at a meeting of Asian and
European foreign ministers in Bali.

Indonesia currently holds the chair of ASEAN, which groups
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The group is expected
to send a delegation to Myanmar soon to try to end the deadlock.