Myanmar junta summons US diplomat
Saturday, 6 October 2007
YANGON, OCT 5 (AP): The top US diplomat in Myanmar was summoned for rare talks Friday with Myanmar's hardline government a day after its leader announced a conditional offer to meet with detained democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.
Diplomats and opposition figures were skeptical that the offer was genuine but, nonetheless, expressed hope that the meeting with Suu Kyi - something she has requested for years - would materialise. Shari Villarosa, the top American diplomat in Myanmar, received word Thursday that she had been invited to meet with the military-led government that orchestrated a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last week, the State Department said in Washington.
Villarosa has been a vocal critic of the crackdown. During her visit, Villarosa was expected to repeat the US view that the regime must meet with democratic opposition groups and "stop the iron crackdown" on peaceful demonstrators, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington. The talks were being held in Naypyitaw, the regime's remote capital carved out of the jungle about 385 kilometres (240 miles) north of Yangon.
Hoping to deflect outrage over soldiers gunning down protesters, Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe announced that he was willing to talk with Suu Kyi, the democratic opposition leader - but only if she stops calling for international sanctions.
Diplomats and opposition figures were skeptical that the offer was genuine but, nonetheless, expressed hope that the meeting with Suu Kyi - something she has requested for years - would materialise. Shari Villarosa, the top American diplomat in Myanmar, received word Thursday that she had been invited to meet with the military-led government that orchestrated a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last week, the State Department said in Washington.
Villarosa has been a vocal critic of the crackdown. During her visit, Villarosa was expected to repeat the US view that the regime must meet with democratic opposition groups and "stop the iron crackdown" on peaceful demonstrators, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington. The talks were being held in Naypyitaw, the regime's remote capital carved out of the jungle about 385 kilometres (240 miles) north of Yangon.
Hoping to deflect outrage over soldiers gunning down protesters, Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe announced that he was willing to talk with Suu Kyi, the democratic opposition leader - but only if she stops calling for international sanctions.