Yangon - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is
likely to meet Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his
visit to Myanmar later this week, government sources said Wednesday.
'He is supposed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi when he arrives here but
we cannot definitely tell his schedule,' an official who requested
anonymity said.
Ban is scheduled to visit Myanmar on Friday and Saturday at the
official invitation of the ruling junta.
He is expected to meet with the country's most powerful man,
Senior General Than Shwe, head of the State Peace and Development
Council, as Myanmar's junta styles itself, officials said.
Besides Suu Kyi and Than Shwe, Ban also plans to meet with
political parties and ethnic groups and travel to the Irrawaddy delta
region that was devastated by Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3, last year,
killing up to 150,000 people.
Ban last visited Myanmar in May, 2008, to hasten international aid
to the country, whose military rulers are notoriously paranoid about
western interference in their internal affairs.
Ban's talks with Myanmar's senior leadership are expected to focus
on a plea for the release of all political prisoners including Suu
Kyi; resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition;
and the need to create conditions conducive to credible elections
planned in 2010.
'The secretary general believes that the sooner these issues are
addressed, the earlier Myanmar will be able to move towards peace,
democracy and prosperity. He looks forward to meeting all key
stakeholders to discuss what further assistance the United Nations
can offer to that end,' said in a UN statement on his visit.
The first day of Ban's visit will coincide with the resumption of
the trial of Suu Kyi on charges of violating her house arrest, by
allowing a US citizen to swim to her lakeside residence in Yangon.
Suu Kyi's case, being held at a special court set up in Yangon's
Insein Prison, is scheduled to resume Friday with testimony from
defence witness Khin Moe Moe, an attorney.
The trial began May 11. While the prosecution was allowed to
present 14 witnesses in the first week, the defence was initially
allowed only one. Later, Khin Moe Moe was permitted to testify.
Critics say the military junta is using the case as a pretext to
keep the 1991 Nobel peace laureate in jail during a politically
sensitive period, leading up to next year's general election.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 1990 general
election by a landslide but has been blocked from power by Myanmar's
junta for the past 19 years.
The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year house arrest
sentence expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world
leaders and statements of concern from its regional allies in the
Association of South-East Asian Nations.
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