By LALIT K JHA
Wednesday,,July 16,2008
The Burmese junta has invited Ibrahim Gambari, the special UN envoy on Burma, to visit the country in mid-August to resume talks with the regime and pro-democracy leaders, a UN spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The invitation was sent to Gambari by the Burmese Ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Tint Swe, said a spokesperson at UN headquarters in New York.
The letter came one day after UN officials said a visit by Gambari in July would be postponed, with speculation centering on the possibility that a visit would not produce any tangible results.
The world body has been internally debating what, if any, positive role it can play to bring the country to political reconciliation, or if the military government will simply push ahead with its agenda of establishing a military-dictated democracy in the country while ignoring world opinion.
“This [letter] is consistent with the standing invitation extended to Gambari by the Myanmar [Burma] authorities; he was initially invited to visit in late May, but that was overtaken by the cyclone that struck earlier,” the spokesperson said. “Discussions are ongoing regarding the precise timing, programme and objectives of his visit.”
The UN spokesperson said it was hoped that Gambari would meet the popular Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Sen-General Than Shwe.
“Gambari has met with Aung San Suu Kyi on each of his visits, as well as with Myanmar’s senior leaders on several occasions, and he looks forward to continuing his dialogue with all concerned,” said the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed the Block Burmese Jade Act which places financial sanctions on the Burmese military regime.
If the act is passed by the Senate and signed by the president, it will ban the import of Burmese jadeite and rubies, a major revenue source for the country’s military regime.
The legislation, which was initially introduced in the House of Representatives last year by the late Rep Tom Lantos, was sponsored by Howard D Berman, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee.
Aung Din, co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma, a leading Burmese human rights group based in Washington, said, “This legislation sends a strong signal to Burma’s military regime that the US stands firmly on the side of my country’s democracy movement.”
While introducing the legislation in the House of Representatives last year, Lantos, who died of cancer early this year, said, “There is a direct link between these blood-red gemstones and the bloodied robes of monks who were brutally suppressed when they took to the streets to demand democracy and human rights.”
The act also freezes the assets of Burmese political and military leaders, prevents Burma from using US financial institutions via third countries to launder the funds of those leaders or their immediate families and prohibits Burmese officials involved in the violent suppression of pro-democracy protesters from receiving visas to the United States.
The ban is supported by major jewelry associations, including the 11,000-store Jewelers of America.
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source:Irrawaddy
Filed under: Blogging, Burma, Burmese, English Article, Human Rights, Myanmar, Myanmar Military, Politics, SPDC | Tagged: Burmese Junta, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Gambari, Myanmar
