UN envoy Alatas arrives in Myanmar to meet leaders
UN envoy Alatas arrives in Myanmar to meet leaders
Agence France-Presse, Yangon
Former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas arrived in Myanmar on Thursday as a special envoy of the United Nations, which two years ago appointed him to push for the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Alatas, the first special envoy allowed here in more than a year, said after arriving on the unannounced visit that he carried a message from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for the nation's reclusive military rulers, but declined to give details.
"I came here as the envoy of the secretary general on UN reform," he told reporters. "I'm hoping to discuss UN reforms that will be discussed in September in New York with the government in Myanmar."
Alatas was appointed in 2003 as a special envoy to Myanmar to negotiate the release of opposition leader Suu Kyi. The popular Nobel peace laureate has been detained by Myanmar's junta since May the same year.
The former minister has since also been named one of the UN's special envoys to promote reforms in the world body, which will be debated at a summit of global leaders next month at UN headquarters in New York.
UN officials said Alatas's visit was part of a tour of several Asian nations before the September summit, although Myanmar has not said if it will attend that meeting.
Alatas said he planned to meet the military government's top leadership, but did not know if he would meet officials from Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy.
The NLD said it only learned of Alatas's trip from overseas reports on short-wave radio but it hoped to meet him.
"NLD is expecting to meet with the special envoy if we have a chance to. We are excited to see him," party spokesman Nya Win said.
Alatas is the first special UN envoy allowed into the country since March 2004, when Malaysian Razali Ismail visited.
Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win snubbed Razali last month when he declined to meet him on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.
At that meeting, the junta agreed to skip its turn at ASEAN's rotating chairmanship amid intense international pressure for Suu Kyi's release from house arrest.
Two weeks ago the junta allowed the head of the UN's World Food Program, James Morris to visit the country. He met NLD leaders as well as Prime Minister Gen. Soe Win.
Asada Chaiyanama, Thailand's former ambassador to the UN who also served in Myanmar, said in Bangkok that dispatching Alatas could be a way to push Myanmar to reform after Yangon relinquished the ASEAN chair.
"Most of the ASEAN countries agree relinquishing the chair is not enough. They have to do some internal reforms too," Asada said.
By casting the trip as a UN reform mission, Asada said "if nothing gets delivered, no one loses face."
Myanmar dissidents have feared that the international community lost a lever to press for pro-democracy reforms and for Suu Kyi's release after the junta agreed to pass up the ASEAN chair.
The junta has vowed to stick to its own seven-point "road map" to democracy, beginning with talks on a new constitution expected to resume late this year. The United States, the European Union and the UN have dismissed the talks as unrepresentative for failing to include the NLD.