Ban Rules Out Visit to Burma

By LALIT K JHA

NEW YORK — The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, on Wednesday ruled out a visit to Burma until such time as he is assured that his presence in the country will help to move it closer to the goal of establishing a genuine democracy.

The onus for this lies on the Burmese military junta, said Ban’s spokesperson, Michele Montas.

“The secretary-general has consistently said that the primary responsibility lies with the government to deliver substantive results, including freeing political prisoners and including having a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi,” Montas said.

The spokesperson confirmed that the secretary-general has received a letter from more than 100 former prime ministers and presidents from over 50 countries, urging him to press for the release of political prisoners before the end of the year.

Ban also received a phone call from the former prime minister of Norway, Kjell Magne Bondevik, who had taken the lead in bringing the former world leaders together on one platform.

“They discussed the letter, asking the secretary-general to visit Myanmar [Burma] and to urge the release of political prisoners by the end of this year,” Montas said, adding: “The secretary-general once more reiterated his pledge to remain fully engaged, both personally and through his personal envoy in Myanmar.”

Ban said he would like to visit Burma again to discuss a broad range of issues.

“However, he will not be able to do so without reasonable expectations of a meaningful outcome, which is what we have been saying all along,” Montas said.

Montas also said that Ban’s special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, would not visit Burma unless he too was sure of achieving some tangible results.

“Gambari himself will not go unless there is some chance that this will move forward. He will not just go for the sake of going, in other words,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, having guided America’s foreign policy on Burma during the last eight years, the US first lady, Laura Bush, said on Wednesday that she would continue to raise her voice on behalf of the people of Burma even after she leaves the White House on January 20.

“I will continue that,” Bush said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.

“The president is going to build a Freedom Institute with his presidential library, and so it’ll be a really good vehicle for me, as well, to continue to talk about Burma, to meet with dissidents from Burma like the young Buddhist monk that I had the chance to meet with when we were in New York earlier this fall,” she said.

Inspired by Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy icon, Bush has been instrumental in pushing for US sanctions against the Burmese military junta and its cronies. The US has led the world in initiating action against the Burmese regime.

Bush, who has met with a number of Burmese pro-democracy leaders, is often the first internationally recognized figure to issue statements on issues related to Burma.