Gambari to head back to Burma
Posted on January 23, 2009
Filed Under Burma news | 1 Comment
Ibrahim Gambari, the UN’s special envoy to Burma will visit the country at the end of this month according to media reports.
The Associated Press is quoting an unnamed diplomatic source as saying the visit is set for January 31. This will be Gambari’s seventh visit and his first for five months. Past visits have received a mixed response, with the junta often playing lip service to his demands.
Gambari was widely criticized by opposition groups following his last visit in August (see: Mixed reviews for Gambari). On that occasion, he failed to meet with the junta’s leader, Than Shwe, and imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi also refused to meet with him. Suu Kyi’s decision not to attend a planned meeting with Gambari was seen as a sign of her dissatisfaction with the lack of results from Gambari’s past visits.
One of his main goals is to secure the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. This visit follows the trials and sentencing of many political opponents of the junta, often to lengthy jail terms (See: Severe sentences handed down to activists).
According to AP, Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, has welcomed Gambari’s visit. They quote spokesman Nyan Win as saying, “I believe the special envoy’s visit this time will be beneficial as the envoy and the NLD share the same principles on achieving political reform in the country.”
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Comments
One Response to “Gambari to head back to Burma”
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Mae Sot weather
Thanks for the scoop! but why is this all about Burma?