ミャンマー　ビジネスコミュのASEAN push won't secure quick Suu Kyi release: UN envoy

ASEAN push won't secure quick Suu Kyi release: UN envoy



ASEAN-Myanmar-UN,sched-lead

ATTENTION - ADDS activist quotes ///

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (AFP) - Southeast Asia's new campaign for the Myanmar junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is unlikely to be successful any time soon, United Nations envoy Razali Ismail said Thursday.

Razali welcomed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) decision to send their own envoy to the military-run state to check on the progress of promised democratic reforms and push for the release of political prisoners.

"It's a wonderful decision and it's good that the ASEAN countries have been able to persuade Myanmar to make this visit and I hope it will be a very meaningful visit which will clarify all aspects," he told AFP.

But Razali, the representative of UN chief Kofi Annan, warned that Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was unlikely to achieve any coups when he carries out his mission to Yangon, expected next month.

"There is a lot of expectation that commitments given by Myanmar to ASEAN will be lived up to and...the release of Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the commitments given," he said on the sidelines of a peace forum here.

"But I don't think it's something that can happen just like that," he said. "We'll have to allow the leaders of the military regime there to work something out, but it's not going to happen instantaneously."

Razali said the fact that Myanmar's ruling generals had agreed to the visit was positive.

"I'm hopeful that the foreign minister of Malaysia will be able to express the collective sense of impatience and concern about the Myanmar issue discrediting ASEAN, and hopefully this will have an impact on the Myanmar leaders to want to do something."

Razali said that although he has not been able to visit the country since March 2004, the United Nations was "happy" to continue its efforts to engage with Myanmar.

But he stressed that the world body would increasingly depend on regional nations to exert whatever influence they could on their neighbour, which has earned pariah status for refusing to end four decades of military rule.

ASEAN aired its new stand on Myanmar at this week's summit in the Malaysian capital, demanding progress on political reforms and the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has spent 10 of the last 16 years in detention.

Myanmar's regime earlier this month confirmed that the current house arrest restrictions against her had been extended by six months.

Debbie Stothard, from the pressure group Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, welcomed the regional bloc's "long overdue" change of tack, which was a major departure from its policy of non-interference in other members' affairs.

"It's not going to be an easy job but we are hoping that if Syed Hamid Albar is backed by the rest of ASEAN then the regime will respect what he's representing and what needs to be done," she said.

Stothard said that rather than just securing the release of political prisoners, ASEAN should demand a genuine reconciliation dialogue between the pro-democracy opposition, ethnic leaders and the regime.

Otherwise, when the mood turned sour in Myanmar the generals would simply retrace their steps and haul all their opponents back to jail.

"Burma (Myanmar) has a habit of recycling political prisoners. They have this revolving door where they release people after a lot of pressure and re-imprison them later on when they think no one else is looking," she said.

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