Asian Nations Deal Blow To U.N. Efforts on Burma

By Benny Avni
November 20, 2007
The New York Sun 
Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/66767

 
UNITED NATIONS — A regional group of southeastern Asian countries, which includes Burma as a member, abruptly canceled a briefing by a U.N. envoy yesterday, dealing the latest blow to U.N. efforts at mediation between the junta and pro-democracy forces. The cancellation of the appearance of Ibrahim Gambari at the gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was announced in Singapore just as international pressure on the military rulers of Burma gained steam. The European Union announced yesterday it would impose new sanctions against the junta, and the role ASEAN plays in the Burma crisis was criticized by the Bush administration.

The announcement at a meeting of leaders of ASEAN members who gathered in Singapore yesterday was greeted with surprise at the United Nations, where Mr. Gambari's modest success in bringing the sides together has been highlighted recently. Last week, Mr. Gambari briefed the Security Council about his recent visits to Burma, after which he was able to relay a message from the jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Secretary-General Ban said yesterday that Mr. Gambari had been officially invited to report to the ASEAN foreign ministers about his latest efforts, which included several trips to Burma, Singapore, and other neighboring countries. I have not been officially informed by the Singaporean prime minister that the briefing had been cancelled, Mr. Ban told reporters.

He added that Mr. Gambari was in mid-flight last night, on his way to Singapore to address the group, and that once he arrives, he would try to sort things out. Mr. Ban said that just a day earlier, he had spoken on the phone with the Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong. He spoke to me and invited Mr. Gambari, and I agreed to his invitation, Mr. Ban said.

In Singapore, at the same time, Mr. Lee said the cancellation of the scheduled briefing was made on behalf of Burma's prime minister, who represented the junta at the ASEAN summit. The Singapore gathering yesterday marked the first ASEAN meeting since the latest crisis began in Burma — named Myanmar by the junta — in October.

Prime Minister Thein Sein made clear that the situation in Myanmar was a domestic affair and Myanmar was fully capable of handling the issue itself, Mr. Lee said, according to Singapore's Channel News Asia. He explained that Gambari had visited the country four times and Myanmar had implemented many of his proposals.

Mr. Gambari's briefing is off, added a foreign minister of another ASEAN member, Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar. Myanmar feels that they deal with the U.N., and it is their own domestic matter. This evening, Myanmar objected, and we base our decisions on consensus. He blamed the confusion on Singapore, saying, The host country invited Gambari — it was not something that was done by ASEAN.

The 10-member ASEAN accepted Burma as a member in 1997, and the group's role in influencing an ease of the tight grip the junta keeps over the country has not been universally praised.

Canceling Gambari's briefing due to the objection made by the Burmese military junta is ASEAN's longstanding weakness and ineffectiveness in handling the bad behavior of its own troublemaker, the founder of the Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma, Aung Din, said. Past rhetoric by ASEAN leaders about Burma was never transformed to action, he added, predicting that we will see the same in this summit as well.

ASEAN's reputation has been called into question because of the situation in Burma, the Bush administration's trade representative, Susan Schwab, said yesterday, after she arrived in Singapore for the summit. There's no way that I could come here without expressing our concern, she added. It just can't be business as usual.

Members of ASEAN, some of which conduct extensive commercial ties with Burma, have been officially opposed to any sanctions against the junta. America recently announced a round of unilateral sanctions, and yesterday, the European Union announced it would impose sanctions against top Burmese generals and would ban the import of timber, gems, and metals from Burma until its leaders enter a meaningful dialogue aimed at ushering democracy in the country.