US may seek UN sanctions against Myanmar amid global protests
Sunday, 7 October 2007
The US said it may seek United Nations sanctions against Myanmar as a worldwide show of support for pro-democracy demonstrators got under way, according to Bloomberg.
Campaigners in countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, South Korea and Ireland planned to march at noon local time, wearing red headbands in support of Buddhist monks who've been arrested, the Burma Campaign UK said on its Web site.
``This day of action is to show that the crisis has not gone away. The UN Security Council must act now to end the crackdown and they must keep focused on this crisis until we know the people of Burma are safe,'' said Ko Aung, a Burmese refugee in the UK.
International condemnation of the military regime of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has intensified since it deployed soldiers on Sept. 26 to crush protests. Security forces clubbed and shot at pro-democracy demonstrators, raided monasteries and arrested monks. At least 30 people were killed and 1,400 arrested, according to the Australian government.
About 500 people marched Saturday to the Opera House in Sydney, said Benya Aye, a 49-year-old former political prisoner in Burma who helped organise the Australian protest.
``International pressure on the junta is high and it is the right time for us to increase that pressure and push for the military to change,'' said Aye, who spent two years and two months in a Burmese jail before moving to Australia in 1987.
``Even though the military has done horrible things to us, we aim to settle these problems through reconciliation. The feeling here today is of elation and people can see the future,'' Aye said today in a telephone interview from Sydney.
Demonstrators also marched in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Brisbane and in New Zealand's Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch and Palmerston North.
The protests were an ``international outcry'' to send a message to Myanmar's military regime that the ``world is outraged,'' Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, said today in a statement on the London-based human rights group's Web site.
The Association of South East Asian Nations said the world has to be ``pragmatic'' in dealing with Myanmar and any peaceful solution to the crisis must involve the military.
``The military is a key institution in Myanmar that cannot be wished away,'' Vanu Gopala Menon, Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council meeting yesterday, according to a transcript released today by the city-state's Foreign Ministry. ``If the military is not part of the solution, there will be no solution.''
Singapore is the chair of Asean, a 10-member group that includes Myanmar. The association also urged India to engage Myanmar and commended China for its ``quiet efforts'' in securing a visit for UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
The US, Britain and France, members of the UN Security Council, circulated a draft statement late Friday condemning the ``violent repression'' by Myanmar's military regime, Agence France-Presse said.
The non-binding statement, which called on the country's government to ``cease repressive measures,'' would require a consensus from the council members to be adopted and will be discussed Oct. 8, the report said.
The US may seek United Nations sanctions, possibly including an arms embargo, against Myanmar unless the military regime ends its crackdown against protesters and releases political prisoners, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said yesterday.
Khalizad made the threat of sanctions after UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and his envoy to Myanmar said they'd opened the way for talks between the ruling junta, led by General Than Shwe, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's junta Friday broadcast footage of Suu Kyi on state television, the first time in at least four years, with Gambari, according to Agence France-Presse.
Suu Kyi, 62, has spent almost 12 years in detention since the junta rejected the results of parliamentary elections in 1990 won by her National League for Democracy.
``There is some hope, admittedly very tenuous hope, if they let her on Burmese television and people are now looking at why this was allowed,'' said Robert Broadfoot, managing director of Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. in Hong Kong.
``There is a combination of a crackdown and discussions going on at the same time,'' he said. ``Why in the world would you come out with a threatened UN boycott publicly when there may be a breakthrough on the deal?''
Campaigners in countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, South Korea and Ireland planned to march at noon local time, wearing red headbands in support of Buddhist monks who've been arrested, the Burma Campaign UK said on its Web site.
``This day of action is to show that the crisis has not gone away. The UN Security Council must act now to end the crackdown and they must keep focused on this crisis until we know the people of Burma are safe,'' said Ko Aung, a Burmese refugee in the UK.
International condemnation of the military regime of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has intensified since it deployed soldiers on Sept. 26 to crush protests. Security forces clubbed and shot at pro-democracy demonstrators, raided monasteries and arrested monks. At least 30 people were killed and 1,400 arrested, according to the Australian government.
About 500 people marched Saturday to the Opera House in Sydney, said Benya Aye, a 49-year-old former political prisoner in Burma who helped organise the Australian protest.
``International pressure on the junta is high and it is the right time for us to increase that pressure and push for the military to change,'' said Aye, who spent two years and two months in a Burmese jail before moving to Australia in 1987.
``Even though the military has done horrible things to us, we aim to settle these problems through reconciliation. The feeling here today is of elation and people can see the future,'' Aye said today in a telephone interview from Sydney.
Demonstrators also marched in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Brisbane and in New Zealand's Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch and Palmerston North.
The protests were an ``international outcry'' to send a message to Myanmar's military regime that the ``world is outraged,'' Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, said today in a statement on the London-based human rights group's Web site.
The Association of South East Asian Nations said the world has to be ``pragmatic'' in dealing with Myanmar and any peaceful solution to the crisis must involve the military.
``The military is a key institution in Myanmar that cannot be wished away,'' Vanu Gopala Menon, Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council meeting yesterday, according to a transcript released today by the city-state's Foreign Ministry. ``If the military is not part of the solution, there will be no solution.''
Singapore is the chair of Asean, a 10-member group that includes Myanmar. The association also urged India to engage Myanmar and commended China for its ``quiet efforts'' in securing a visit for UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
The US, Britain and France, members of the UN Security Council, circulated a draft statement late Friday condemning the ``violent repression'' by Myanmar's military regime, Agence France-Presse said.
The non-binding statement, which called on the country's government to ``cease repressive measures,'' would require a consensus from the council members to be adopted and will be discussed Oct. 8, the report said.
The US may seek United Nations sanctions, possibly including an arms embargo, against Myanmar unless the military regime ends its crackdown against protesters and releases political prisoners, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said yesterday.
Khalizad made the threat of sanctions after UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and his envoy to Myanmar said they'd opened the way for talks between the ruling junta, led by General Than Shwe, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's junta Friday broadcast footage of Suu Kyi on state television, the first time in at least four years, with Gambari, according to Agence France-Presse.
Suu Kyi, 62, has spent almost 12 years in detention since the junta rejected the results of parliamentary elections in 1990 won by her National League for Democracy.
``There is some hope, admittedly very tenuous hope, if they let her on Burmese television and people are now looking at why this was allowed,'' said Robert Broadfoot, managing director of Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. in Hong Kong.
``There is a combination of a crackdown and discussions going on at the same time,'' he said. ``Why in the world would you come out with a threatened UN boycott publicly when there may be a breakthrough on the deal?''