UNSC to Consult on Burma

By LALIT K JHA / WASHINGTON

The United Nations Security Council will hold a consultation session on Burma on Friday—the first since Barack Obama became US president—to take stock of the current situation in this country.

The powerful 15-member UN body—which has been increasingly critical of the Burmese military junta but has been unable to reach a consensus on a solution—will hear a firsthand account from UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari, who visited the country recently and who met with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of the military junta.

He also made trips to Tokyo and Beijing to discuss the situation in Burma and to brief policymakers. He then flew to New Delhi to brief the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, who was there attending an international conference.

UN officials said the Security Council meeting would give an indication of the Obama administration’s Burma policy through its new UN ambassador, Susan Rice.

Meanwhile, speaking at a news conference in Jakarta on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Obama administration officials are looking at possible ideas as part of a major review of US policy toward Burma.

"Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta," Clinton said after a meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda. "Reaching out and trying to engage them hasn't worked either," she added.

While Clinton didn't reveal the direction of the policy review, she described the "unfortunate path" taken by the Burmese military government, leaving it "impervious to influence from anyone."

However, any move by the Obama administration to scale back sanctions on Burma could face strong opposition in Congress and Senate, The Washington Post reported.

US Vice President Joe Biden is often outspoken in his criticism of the Burmese regime. Biden spearheaded the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act 2008, which was signed into law by former President George W Bush on July 29.

Recently, Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has called for the UN secretary-general to visit Burma again, and urged Ban to act as mediator to start a dialogue between Suu Kyi and junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe.