Gambari Upbeat

By WAI MOE

One day ahead of Thursday’s briefing to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by Special Adviser to Burma Ibrahim Gambari, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) affiliated with Colombia University in the USA said it expected Gambari’s report to be “more positive than after his March 2008 visit.”

The report said that since his return from Burma, Gambari “has been providing more up-beat assessments,” indicating that the Burmese military government has been more receptive this time and more open to the five points which had been agreed upon with the Security Council and the Secretary-General’s ‘Group of Friends for Myanmar [Burma]’—India, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Australia, Norway, Japan, South Korea and the EU presidency—before Gambari’s visit on August 18-23.

The five points in questions were: the release of political prisoners, including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi ; dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi ; a credible political process ; addressing socio-economic issues, including the idea of an economic forum (apparently agreed with minister Soe Tha in August); and regularization of the Good Offices role of the UN, the report added.

“It seems that the Myanmar government will submit a paper on how to address socio-economic problems and has invited Gambari back for a visit ‘soon’ and agreed that his staff could apply for visas allowing them to visit before his trip,” the report said.

Wednesday’s report also said that Gambari had appeared “encouraged” in identifying points of agreement between Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and the Burmese regime.

“A related issue is providing Council input to the task which Gambari now has of indentifying points of agreement between the NLD and the regime which could be used as a starting point for dialogue, thereby helping to revive and reinforce the Good Offices role and make it more effective,” the report stated.

The Security Council was expected to receive a briefing from Gambari—who visited Burma for the sixth time as special envoy on a six-day trip from August 18 to 23—in a closed session in New York on Thursday.

“One option is for members of the Council to listen to Gambari’s briefing and state their positions, but not take action,” the report stated. “A possible option is a press statement reiterating key elements in the two presidential statements such as the need to release prisoners and engage in genuine dialogue.”

According to the report, any presidential statement on Burma would likely reemphasize the keys elements from the UNSC presidential statement in October 2007, which called for: inclusive national reconciliation; the ongoing involvement of the UN; genuine dialogue with Suu Kyi; measures to address political and human rights issues; and measures to address the economic and humanitarian needs of the people in Burma.

The presidential statement could also comment on Burma’s referendum, which approved the military-backed constitution in May.

Gambari’s last briefing to the UNSC was at a closed session on July 24. Following the briefing, Vietnam, which was then chairing the Council, said the UNSC had reaffirmed its support for Gambari’s Good Offices role while the US said the Council expected “concrete results” from Gambari’s visit.

The NGO report noted that Gambari had been criticized and accused of a lack of progress and of prematurely offering electoral assistance from the UN with the 2010 elections.

The report also noted that some members of the UNSC are growing impatient with Gambari’s Good Offices, though it said there is still support for him.

The UNSC has announced that the “Group of Friends for Myanmar” will meet again on September 12 following Gambari’s briefing to the UNSC and a ministerial level of the group meeting is scheduled for September 29.

Although talk about UN sanctions against the Burmese regime seems to be have receded, there is likely to be even stronger pressure for use of diplomatic tools, the report said.

* Correction: This article was originally published on The Irrawaddy Web site on September 11 mistakenly attributing the report mentioned above to the United Nations Security Council. In fact, the report was published by an NGO called Security Council Report, which is affiliated with Colombia University. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.