Myanmar's foreign minister said Thursday he was ready to discuss Thai proposals to resolve an impasse over the detention of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. Foreign Minister Win Aung, in Bangkok for a meeting of regional foreign ministers Friday, will also hold bilateral talks with his Thai counterpart, Surakiart Sathirathai. "Yes, we are going to discuss everything," Win Aung told Reuters when asked if the release of Suu Kyi would be on the two ministers' agenda.
| "Not that anything will happen, but talking about it might abate some of the diplopressure..." |
International pressure is mounting on Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country since a 1962 coup and ignored a 1990 election victory by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. President Bush signed a bill Monday closing the U.S. market to imports from Myanmar, and key donor Japan has cut off new aid. Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors have taken the unprecedented step of publicly criticizing the junta. Thailand, fearing an influx of economic migrants from its western neighbor, is against sanctions and has proposed key Western and Asian countries meet the Myanmar junta to hammer out a "road map" for democratic transition in the country.
| Crummy choice of imagery... |
"The current situation is challenging Myanmar to do something," Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow told reporters Thursday. "ASEAN has already expressed its view. The ball is in Myanmar's court now to turn this challenge into an opportunity to engage the international community and its internal factions." |