Nov 9, 2007 2:39 am US/Eastern
Myanmar Junta, Suu Kyi Discuss Reconciliation
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ―
Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Friday with members of her opposition party -- their first direct contact in more than three years.
Suu Kyi -- who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years -- also met with an official from Myanmar's ruling junta. She was driven from her heavily guarded home in a car with tinted windows to a nearby government guest house, said witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity because they could face harassment from the government.
An Asian diplomat, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Suu Kyi met with junta official Aung Kyi, who was appointed the junta's "minister for relations" with Suu Kyi last month amid global outrage over the junta's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
The junta unexpectedly announced Thursday that Suu Kyi would be allowed to meet with officials from her National League for Democracy party.
The statement came just hours after the U.N.'s Myanmar envoy Ibrahim Gambari ended a six-day mission to broker negotiations between the military regime and pro-democracy leaders.
Gambari met with Suu Kyi for an hour Thursday and released a statement on her behalf after leaving the country.
"In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with the government in order to make this process of dialogue a success," Suu Kyi said in her statement, which Gambari read aloud Thursday evening in Singapore. "I am committed to pursue the path of dialogue constructively and invite the government and all relevant parties to join me in this spirit."
Suu Kyi's statement was apparently her first since her latest detention began in 2003. She has not seen fellow executives of her opposition party since May 2004.
International pressure on the junta to begin a dialogue with the opposition increased sharply after the junta's Sept. 26-27 crackdown on pro-democracy protests that killed 10 people, according to the official count. Diplomats and dissidents say the death toll was much higher. Thousands were arrested.
"We now have a process going which would lead to substantive dialogue" between the government and Suu Kyi, Gambari said in a statement released by the U.N.
Initially, there had been doubt that Gambari's trip had made any headway. He was denied a meeting with junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe. The junta had also rejected Gambari's proposal to mediate talks between Suu Kyi and a junta representative.
On the eve of Gambari's visit, the junta announced it planned to expel the top U.N. official in the country, Charles Petrie, for criticizing the government.
Myanmar experts around the world reacted cautiously to news of Suu Kyi's promised meeting with her party leaders.
"My reaction is extreme skepticism that this will lead to real dialogue between her and the (junta), or genuine political change," said Donald M. Seekins, a Myanmar expert at Meio University in Japan. "The (junta) likes to move Suu Kyi and the NLD around like pieces on a chessboard, to satisfy the international community."
Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election, but the military refused to cede power, saying a new constitution had to be adopted first. It is still in the process of writing one.
"So far, she is holding out an olive branch calling for good will on all sides," said Myanmar scholar, Josef Silverstein, a retired professor from Rutgers University. "But there is much to clarify."
Several potential roadblocks stand in the way of further progress. The junta gave no indication it plans to free Suu Kyi or more than 1,100 other political prisoners, a major demand of the world community.
Suu Kyi said nothing about accepting conditions set by Than Shwe before he will meet with her. These included her renouncing any support for economic sanctions imposed by foreign countries because of the junta's failure to turn over power to a democratically elected government.
Friday's meeting between Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi was the second since his appointment in the aftermath of the September crackdown.
Suu Kyi's statement described her first meeting with Aung Kyi on Oct. 25 as constructive. But she said she expected "this phase of preliminary consultations will conclude soon so that a meaningful and timebound dialogue with the (junta) leadership can start as early as possible."
In the streets of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, residents said they were hopeful that Suu Kyi's meeting would lay the groundwork for reconciliation.
"Conditions have been created to move forward," said Ohn Myint, a 67-year-old lawyer. "So let's wait and see."
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