| |
| |
 |
| |
Buddhist monks pray at a riot police's road block in downtown Yangon |
Facing the most serious challenge to its authority since 1988, Myanmar's military junta has admitted that one man was killed and three wounded when soldiers fired warning shots and tear gas at crowds on Wednesday. Protest leaders however say at least five monks were killed.
The use of force has raised even further, the international outcry over developments in Myanmar.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a "tragedy" and urged the generals to allow a U.N. envoy to visit and meet detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "The regime has reacted brutally to people who were simply protesting peacefully," Rice said on the sidelines of the U.N.General Assembly in New York.
The U.N. Security Council said Myanmar's military government should exercise restraint toward peaceful protesters and expressed concern at its violent response to demonstrations in the reclusive Asian nation
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would dispatch special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in the hope that talks could be initiated. U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari, has been waiting in Singapore for Myanmar authorities to admit him into the country.
Singapore, the current ASEAN chairman, says it welcomes the decision of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send Mr Gambari to Myanmar. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Singapore fully supports any initiative by the UN which would help defuse the situation and added that a peaceful resolution to the situation in Myanmar will require the cooperation and involvement of all parties, including the military. It went on to say that the UN offers the best hope for a peaceful resolution of the situation.
China which is a key trading partner and ally of Myanmar has made little comment so far, but diplomats say it has privately been speaking with the Myanmar generals to convey international concern. "As a neighbour, China is extremely concerned about the situation in Myanmar," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference. "We hope that all parties in the Myanmar issue will maintain restraint and appropriately handle the problems that have currently arisen so they do not become more complicated or expand, and don't affect Myanmar's stability and even less affect regional peace and stability."
Japan, once the biggest aid donor to Burma, said on Thursday it will summon the Myanmar ambassador to protest after security forces raided monasteries in Yangon. "What Myanmar is doing is wrong," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters. But he said Tokyo would observe the situation for a while before deciding whether to impose sanctions.
The South Korean government in making a rare comment, says it strongly expects Myanmar's government and its people to achieve democracy and national development through a peaceful manner."
Australia has condemned what it called the "appalling" actions by security forces and said that China, India and Southeast Asia should pressure Myanmar's "loathsome regime" to halt a crackdown on mass street protests. He said Australia would implement "targeted financial sanctions" against regime officials and impose further visa restrictions on them, but ruled out imposing wide-ranging economic sanctions on Myanmar. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said earlier sanctions "would have absolutely no impact."
Outside the Asian region, the United States and the 27-nation European Union called on the generals to start a dialogue with pro-democracy leaders, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and ethnic minority groups. Foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrial nations agreed on a similar formula but without a call for sanctions, in deference to Russia.
France and the U.K. Have also pushed for more international sanctions against Myanmar, saying the world must unite to punish the Southeast Asian country for its crackdown. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who met Myanmar opposition leaders in Paris called for new E.U. and U.N. sanctions against the ruling junta, while urging French businesses to stop new investments in the country.
History however suggests the junta will not be moved by international threats, criticisms or sanctions which the country has managed to withstand.
Britain and the United States imposed their own sanctions on Myanmar in the 1990s, but some experts question their effectiveness, saying they tend to penalise the people more than their rulers.
With a similar view is Sein Win, an exiled opposition leader. He says there needs to be "creative kind of sanctions" against the junta, including a ban on teak exports from Myanmar. He said such targeted sanctions "would hurt the military the most, and less the people. At this critical moment, we want the military to withdraw and stop the confrontation and the international community to focus on aid and start talking about Burma at the United Nations" he said. - CNA/sf
|
