Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A senior US official listened to the views of the leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) including party General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday at Suu Kyi’s home in Rangoon.
Suu Kyi and US diplomat Joseph Yun after a meeting at her home in Rangoon on Thursday in which a wide range of issues were discussed. Photo: Mizzima
Suu Kyi welcomed US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Yun to her lakeside home in Rangoon at about 4 p.m.
‘First, he met with Aung San Suu Kyi, Nyan Win and Han Tha Myint from the NLD. The meeting lasted until around 5 p.m.’, Ohn Kyaing, an NLD spokesman toldMizzima.
Yun and his delegation also met with NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo and central executive committee members Win Tin, Than Tun, Ohn Kyaing, Win Myint, May Win Myint and members of the Committee Representing People’s Parliament including Aye Tha Aung, Pu Cin Tian Htan and Soe Win.
In the meeting, NLD leaders talked about their views on the new government led by President Thein Sein and the need for national reconciliation. CRPP officials talked about the human rights situation in ethnic areas and their views on the U.S. economic sanctions against Burma.
They also talked about putting the Burmese government under more international pressure to grant amnesty to political prisoners and Burma’s request to chair Asean in 2014.
Ohn Kyaing said that Yun and NLD leaders shared similar political views, but he refused to disclose more details.
Ohn Kyaing said Yun told them that he talked with Foreign Affairs Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, People’s Parliament Deputy Speaker Nanda Kyaw Swar and the Union Solidarity and Development Party general secretary Htay Oo on Wednesday about the US ‘double-track policy’ of direct engagement and sanctions against Burma.
Although this visit is his second to Burma, it is the first by a US high-ranking official under Burma’s new government.
‘He observed the actions of the Burmese government. He seemed dissatisfied with the government’s actions’, Ohn Kyain said.
After the meeting, Yun and Suu Kyi held a press conference in front of her home with more than 50 local and foreign journalists.
On Friday, representatives from the Rakhine Nationalities and Development Party, the National Democratic Force and the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party will meet with Yun and his delegation.
Meanwhile, the US Department of State said on May 17 in a press conference that Yun’s visit reflected its continued willingness to engage with the Burmese government despite the 2010 electoral process in Burma which it called seriously flawed and not free.
