News & Articles on Burma

Saturday, 20 August, 2011
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Burma’s President meets Suu Kyi, but people watch cautiously
By Zin Linn Aug 20, 2011 12:30AM UTC

Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi met President Thein Sein on Friday, a source in Naypyitaw (New Capital) said. It was said to be the first meeting between the two. Some optimists think this latest meeting gives a preliminary sense of conciliation talks between the military-backed new government and the key opposition figure.

The key opposition party leader, Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years in custody under the former military junta for confrontation for democracy, arrived Naypyitaw today, to meet President Thein Sein, an ex-general in the military regime.

The two met at the presidential palace, an official from the Information Ministry said, who wants to remain anonymous. The official did not elaborate on what was discussed. The meeting took place between 4 and 5 pm, according to Khun Thar Myint, one of Suu Kyi’s spokespersons.

Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi made an appeal on 28 July for political talk and an urgent ceasefire between major ethnic rebel groups – Kachin Independence Organization, Karen National Union, New Mon State Party, Shan State Army – and government troops.

In her open letter dispatched to the country’s new President Thein Sein, Suu Kyi offered to act as a mediator between the government and the ethnic rebels, and said the continuous fighting has been damaging the national reconciliation which is so important for the nation that composed mainly of ethnic population.

Some analysts consider Thein Sein, who took office on March 30, as a soft-liner in the new government which was surrounded by hardliners opposed to talk with Suu Kyi. The relation between Suu Kyi and the military has long been freezing, except the new government’s engagement with Labour Minister Aung Kyi.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi released a statement dated June 20 calling both government and KIO to stop heavy fighting immediately in order to protect people’s lives and properties. It also called for peaceful talks between stakeholders to settle down the decade-long political crisis of the country.

In December 2010, Burmese junta’s two mouthpiece newspapers criticized dissident politicians who support Aung San Suu Kyi’s national reconciliation plan. Burma’s military rulers dismissed the actions of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who tries to revive the spirit of Panglong Agreement providing self-reliance to ethnic nationalities, as a “cheap political stunt”.

Burma’s 64-year-old Panglong Agreement has been disregarded by the successive Burmese regimes, including the current President Thein Sein government. The Panglong Agreement was signed on Feb. 12, 1947, between General Aung San and leaders of the Chin, Kachin and Shan ethnic groups guaranteeing a genuine federal union of Burma.

Next week, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, will revisit the country after banning more than a year. Quintana last visited Burma in February 2010 but was not allowed to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest at that time. In this imminent trip, Quintana will have to meet Burma’s Nobel laureate, who was freed from seven years of house arrest soon after the country’s controversial election in November last year.

On August 12, Kyan Hsan, Information Minister of Thein Sein government, led the first press conference in Naypyitaw. During the press panel, Kyaw Hsan said that even though the NLD is an unlawful party, the government has been managing that matter patiently.

Kyaw Hsan also said the government has been keenly observed to talk with Suu Kyi in accordance with President Thein Sein’s inaugural speech on March 30. He also urged the NLD to reregister as a party if they wished to take part in the affairs of state.

Currently, the NLD refuses to go under the 2008 constitution which has been disregarded by most ethnic armed groups including Kachin, Shan and Karen.

It is obvious, the problem of the 2008 constitution will be the toughest topic to talk about between President Thein Sein and opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi, apart from releasing of political prisoners and stopping of ethnic wars.

Moreover, some observers are still doubtful that the meeting between Thein Sein and Suu Kyi might be a time buying tactic since the new government has been trying to gain the ASEAN chair ahead of political reforms. http://asiancorrespondent.com/62936/burma%E2%80%99s-president-meets-suu-kyi-but-people-watch-cautiously/
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Suu Kyi 'encouraged' by talks

Published: 20/08/2011 at 01:32 PM
Online news:

Burma's democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday said she was "encouraged" by her first talks with the country's nominally civilian president amid signs of an unprecedented thaw in relations.

Aung San Suu Kyi gives a speech during a visit to the town of Bago, close to Rangoon.
In her first comments on Friday's discussions with President Thein Sein, a former general, the Nobel laureate indicated that the one hour meeting in the capital Naypyidaw had gone well.

"I am glad to see him and I am encouraged," she told reporters.

The talks, a rare encounter between Suu Kyi and one of the members of the junta who kept her locked up for much of the past two decades, are the latest example of contacts between the government and its most renowned critic.

It was the opposition figurehead's first visit to the remote purpose-built capital, at the invitation of the regime, which came to power in March after a widely condemned election marred by the absence of Suu Kyi and her party.

A Burma official, who asked not to be named, said the meeting was "quite good and quite open" without giving details of the nature of discussions, which were held behind closed doors.

In a short article on the talks, government mouthpiece the New Light of Burma said both sides sought "potential common grounds to cooperate in the interests of the nation and the people, putting aside different views".

The newspaper published a picture of Suu Kyi with Thein Sein at the presidential residence.

Suu Kyi remained in Naypyidaw overnight and attended a forum on the impoverished nation's economy on Saturday morning.

An AFP reporter at the event said the 66-year-old appeared relaxed and cheerful and spoke with senior government officials and ministers.

Suu Kyi was told in June to stay out of politics and warned that a political tour could spark chaos and riots.

But Burma's government led by Thein Sein, a former junta prime minister, has since appeared to want to soften its image.

"It seems to me that the government wants to demonstrate that they are not the same people from the past, that they want to do something good for the country," Burma expert Aung Naing Oo told AFP.

He added that while it was still unclear whether government overtures were a genuine attempt at warmer ties or a way of engineering better international relations, they are "extremely important" for reconciliation in the country.

In recent weeks Suu Kyi has held two rounds of talks with labour minister Aung Kyi in Rangoon and has written an open letter offering to aid ceasefire talks between the military and ethnic rebels.

Last Sunday the daughter of Burma's liberation hero General Aung San travelled unhindered on her first overtly political trip outside her home city since being released from detention, addressing thousands of supporters.

In a further sign the new government is seeking to improve its image, UN rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana is also being permitted to visit Burma from Sunday for the first time in more than a year.

Quintana has been a vocal critic of Burma's rulers, enraging the junta after his last trip by suggesting that human rights violations in the country may amount to crimes against humanity and could warrant a UN inquiry.

The international community has called for a number of reforms in Burma including the release of around 2,000 political prisoners.

Burma's elections last November followed nearly half a century of military rule.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) boycotted the poll because of rules seemingly designed to exclude the democracy icon, and was stripped of its status as a political party as a result.

The NLD won a 1990 vote by a landslide but was never allowed by the junta to take power. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/252662/burma-suu-kyi-encouraged-by-talks
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Suu Kyi in meeting with Burma's president
8/20/2011 - 10:20:13 AM

Burma’s democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi has said she is pleased about her first meeting with the military-dominated country’s new president.

This marks the opposition leader’s highest-level contact with the new government since her release from house arrest in November.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate told reporters she was “happy and satisfied” with the meeting. She spoke after attending a government-sponsored forum in the administrative capital Naypyitaw.

Ms Suu Kyi’s government invitation to Naypyitaw has generated guarded optimism that the new nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein is committed to a dialogue with the opposition.

Ms Suu Kyi has repeatedly called for talks since her release from seven years of house arrest. http://www.eecho.ie/news/world/suu-kyi-in-meeting-with-burmas-president-517249.html
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Burma's Democracy Leader Encouraged by Meeting With President
VOA News
Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein pose for photos before their meeting at the presidential office in Naypyidaw, August 19, 2011
Photo: AP
Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein pose for photos before their meeting at the presidential office in Naypyidaw, August 19, 2011

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she is pleased with her first meeting with the country's new civilian president.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate told reporters Saturday that she was encouraged by her one-hour meeting Friday with President Thein Sein. She gave no specifics on what they discussed.

Aung San Suu Kyi stayed in the administrative capital of Naypyidaw overnight and attended a government-sponsored economic development forum Saturday morning. It was her first visit to the city, which was built during her last stint under house arrest.

State-run television showed video of the first meeting between the Nobel winner and Burma's first civilian president, describing the meeting as friendly. The report said the two discussed the possibility of cooperation.

Separately, a government source told the Associated Press the meeting lasted almost one hour and described it as "significant." The source spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party also spoke to the Associated Press. Nyan Win said the meeting could be the "first step toward national reconciliation," but he declined to elaborate.

In March, Burma's military government handed power to a new nominally civilian government led by former general Thein Sein, after nearly half a century of military rule.

Aung San Suu Kyi was released in November from seven years of detention shortly after national elections in which she and her National League for Democracy did not participate. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Burmas-Democracy-Leader-Encouraged-by-Meeting-With-President-128118188.html
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Suu Kyi meets Burma's President for first time
By Aung Hla Tun in Rangoon
Saturday, 20 August 2011

Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi met the country's President, Thein Sein, yesterday, the first meeting between the two and the latest olive branch from the army-backed regime that came to power this year after five decades of direct military rule, a government source said.

Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who spent 15 years in detention for campaigning for democracy, flew to the capital, Naypyitaw, to meet the President, a former top general in the military regime. They met at the presidential palace, a senior official from the Ministry of Information said. The official did not disclose what was discussed and said it was only a short meeting. It was the first visit by Ms Suu Kyi to Naypyitaw, a city built five years ago on a mountain plateau about 205 miles north of Burma's old capital and biggest city, Rangoon.

Ms Suu Kyi, 66, was released when her latest stint of house arrest expired last November, just after elections that were widely criticised as a sham, since the army made sure it dominated parliament and the new cabinet.

Thein Sein, who took office on 30 March, is regarded as one of the more moderate members of a new government that contains hardliners opposed to engagement with Ms Suu Kyi.

The military's unbroken 49-year grip on power officially ended in March, when the ruling State Peace and Development Council made way for a nominally civilian government led mostly by retired generals.

Reuters http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/suu-kyi-meets-burmas-president-for-first-time-2340825.html
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Burma’s president meets opposition leader Suu Kyi
Friday, 19 August 2011 15:50 Mizzima News

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met for the first time on Friday in Naypyitaw at an unknown location, according to the local journal 7 Days.

Burmese President Thien Sein, shown here in traditional Burmese dress while speaking in Parliament, met with opposition leader Suu Kyi on Friday in Naypyitaw, as relations between her and the newly formed government improve. Photo: Mizzima

Burmese President Thien Sein, shown here in traditional Burmese dress while speaking in Parliament, met with opposition leader Suu Kyi on Friday in Naypyitaw, as relations between her and the newly formed government improve. Photo: Mizzima
"They met at 1 p.m.," said a source close to officials, when Mizzima asked for confirmation.

The opening ceremony of a national-level workshop on poverty and economic development was delayed for one hour due to their meeting, the journal said.

Suu Kyi was officially invited to attend a national-level three-day workshop that ends on Sunday. High-level government officials, members of political parties and business representatives were invited to the workshop.

Participants in the workshop told 7 Days that they had not yet seen Suu Kyi who arrived in Naypyitaw on Friday.

Under a special arrangement, a government security team appeared at Suu Kyi’s home in Rangoon at 9.a.m. local time led by Special Branch Police commander Colonel Win Naing Tun and accompanied her to Naypyitaw.

Relations between the government and Suu Kyi have gradually improved following two meetings recently between Suu Kyi and government Minister Aung Kyi. http://www.mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/5803-burmas-president-meets-opposition-leader-suu-kyi.html