Yangon - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
met with Myanmar's military leader Friday on an official visit that
aimed at pressing for the release of all political prisoners
including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to Myanmar's state-run television, Ban held talks with
Senior General Than Shwe in Naypyitaw, the military's headquarters in
central Myanmar.
No details of their talks were provided.
Ban and his entourage arrived at Yangon International Airport
Friday morning, stopping over briefly in the old capital before
flying on to Naypyitaw, 350 kilometres north of Yangon.
Besides meeting Than Shwe, the UN chief was scheduled to meet with
25 representatives from political parties, including four leaders
from the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party,
officials said.
It was unclear whether Ban would be allowed to meet with
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently being held at
Yangon's infamous Insein Prison. On Saturday he will return to
Yangon, where Suu Kyi is being kept in Insein Prison.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is on trial for breaking the terms
of her detention, by allowing US national John William Yettaw to swim
into her lakeside home-cum-prison on May 3 and spend two nights in
her compound.
A special court set up at Insein Prison was scheduled to hear a
defence witness in the Suu Kyi case Friday, but the hearing was
postponed until July 10.
Court officials said the hearing was postponed because the Supreme
Court had yet to pass over necessary documents, but it happened to
coincide with the arrival of Ban.
Ban last visited Myanmar in May, 2008, to hasten international aid
to the country in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which killed up to
150,000 people.
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.
'I will try to use this visit as an opportunity to raise in the
strongest possible terms and convey the concerns of the international
community of the United Nations to the highest authorities of the
Myanmar government,' Ban told a press conference in Tokyo Thursday.
'Three of the most important benchmarks would be: first of all,
they should release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu
Kyi; they should immediately resume the dialogue between the
government and opposition leaders; and they should also create an
atmosphere, political as well as a legal framework, conducive to the
credible election which needs to be taken next year in a most
objective, transparent and democratic manner,' he added.
Observers believe it is highly unlikely that Than Shwe will agree
to release Suu Kyi prior to the 2010 polls.
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.
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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