By Bill Varner
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will seek United Nations sanctions against Myanmar, possibly including an arms embargo, unless the nation's military regime ends its crackdown against protesters and releases political prisoners, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said.
Khalilzad made the threat after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his envoy to Myanmar said they've opened the way for talks between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
``A window of opportunity has opened, and it is vital that the government of Myanmar responds positively,'' Ban told the UN Security Council today, before envoy Ibrahim Gambari reported on his trip this week to the Southeast Asian nation. Ban said he urged Suu Kyi and military leader General Than Shwe to meet ``as soon as possible.''
International condemnation of Myanmar's military regime has intensified since it deployed soldiers on Sept. 26 to crush the protests. Security forces clubbed and shot at demonstrators, raided monasteries and arrested Buddhist monks. At least 30 people were killed and 1,400 others arrested, according to the Australian government.
UN envoy Gambari met with Suu Kyi, then with Shwe, and then with Suu Kyi again. He returned to New York yesterday and briefed Ban on the talks.
Than Shwe subsequently said he was willing to meet with Suu Kyi if she stops calling for international sanctions against Myanmar and urging the population to confront the junta.
Gambari told the Security Council he was ``cautiously encouraged'' by the junta's willingness to meet with Suu Kyi, provided certain conditions were met. ``The sooner such a meeting can take place, the better, as it is a first and necessary step to overcome the high level of mistrust between them,'' Gambari said.
Suu Kyi
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.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner will consider Than Shwe's offer ``in a positive light,'' Agence France-Presse cited NLD spokesman Nyan Win as saying from the former capital, Yangon.
Khalilzad told the Security Council that while the potential for talks between Shwe and Suu Kyi was encouraging, the conditions set by the junta were ``unrealistic.''
The U.S. demands that the junta end the crackdown on protesters, lift curfews, remove troops from around monasteries and release all political prisoners, Khalilzad said.
The top U.S. envoy to Myanmar met earlier today with Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint in the capital, Naypitaw, the U.S. mission to the UN said. Shari Villarosa, the acting ambassador to Myanmar, received word yesterday that the junta wanted to hold the talks.
`Meaningful Dialogue'
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington that Villarosa would deliver the message that the regime ``needs to start meaningful dialogue with all the democratic opposition groups'' and ``stop the violent crackdown.''
Ban called the government's use of force ``abhorrent and unacceptable'' and said all political prisoners should be immediately released.
It was ``too early to measure the impact of Mr. Gambari's visit, or to label it a success or a failure,'' Ban said.
The UN has demanded the military regime reveal how many people were killed last week during the crackdown on the biggest anti-government protests in almost 20 years.
Gambari said it ``remains unclear'' how responsive the Myanmar leadership will be to messages from the U.S. and UN.
British Ambassador John Sawers said he would ask the Security Council to adopt a formal statement demanding an end to use of force against protesters and release of Suu Kyi and other detainees, and urging movement toward ``national reconciliation.''
Source : TheBloomberg
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