Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Following last week’s abrupt cancellation of his Burma trip, Senator Jim Webb has written an open letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asking her to examine allegations by the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs that Burma had violated UN Resolution 1874, which bans North Korean overseas military shipments. The veteran lawmaker, who has publicly advocated engagement with Burmese regime and last year met leader Senior General Than Shwe, admitted that Dr. Kurt Campbell’s allegations last month had “frozen any prospect of further engagement with the Burmese government”.
Webb, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations East Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee, also stated that prior to his departure for Asia he and his staff had “worked for weeks to seek public clarification” of Dr. Campbell’s allegation but that the State Department had yet to provide one. He disclosed that his staff were told by deputy assistant secretary Scot Marciel “that no other nation has joined the United States in publicly denouncing Burma” for violating UN Resolution 1874.
In the letter dated Tuesday, June 8, Webb reiterated he had cancelled his visit to Burma “just hours” before he was to enter the country over the allegation by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) that Than Shwe’s regime had sought North Korean assistance to develop a nuclear programme. Webb requested Clinton also examine this allegation.
DVB’s explosive allegations were revealed in a documentary aired internationally by Qatar-based Al Jazeera’s international English language service and shown in the US on the ABC network. The documentary included interviews with senior Burmese scientist Sai Thein Win, who provided extensive documentation to support his claim that he had participated in Burma’s burgeoning missile and nuclear programmes.
Until recently a major in the Burmese army, Sai Thein Win was trained at home in defence engineering and later in missile technology at the prestigious Bauman Moscow State Technical University in Russia. He returned to Burma to work in special factories, built to house modern European machining tools, to create prototypes for missile and nuclear activities.
Webb calls for appointment of Burma envoy
Webb also used the letter to call for the appointment of current US ambassador to Thailand Eric John as “American special representative and policy co-ordinator for Burma” in accordance with the Tom Lantos Block Burmese Jade (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008. Webb pointed out that the Jade Act required the president to work with the Senate to make such an appointment.
Senator pans downgrade of Thai efforts against human trafficking
The letter also stated Webb’s stance on several other key issues that relate to his committee chairmanship, including his opposition to the recent announcement that the US State Department is to downgrade Thailand’s efforts against trafficking in persons from “Tier II” to the “Tier II Watch List”. In Webb’s words such a downgrade would have a negative impact on the kingdom because it “places the country at risk for sanctions on US assistance, primarily for democracy and human rights programmes. Such a downgrade would occur at a time when this type of aid is desperately needed to bolster political reforms in Thailand and to promote political stability”.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/4018-us-burma-policy-frozen-by-n-korea...
