Al Jazeera Sunday, November 15, 2009
Barack Obama, the US president, has told Myanmar's military government to free Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's jailed pro-democracy leader.
Obama delivered the message on Sunday at a summit with leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations, which included General Thein Sein, Myanmar's prime minister.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, told reporters that Obama called on Myanmar to free his fellow Nobel Peace laureate and other political prisoners, and end oppression of minorities.
"Obama brought that up directly with that government," Gibbs said, indicating that the president addressed Thein Sein.
US diplomats visit
Obama's call follows a visit earlier this month by two senior US diplomats to Myanmar, where they held talks and had a private meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.
It was the highest-level US visit to Myanmar in 14 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years under detention by the military government.
Western governments have avoided direct contacts with leaders of Myanmar for decades, citing the regime's poor human rights record and suppression of democracy.
A joint statement issued after the summit - the first ever between a US president and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) - devoted a paragraph on Myanmar, a major obstacle in relations between the two sides.
But the statement did not call for the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, only urging Myanmar to ensure that the elections it intends to hold in 2010 are "conducted in a free, fair, inclusive and transparent manner".
Thein Sein did not address leaders' concerns about Aung San Suu Kyi, said Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister.
"We expected a bit more, but it was not forthcoming. We hope [democracy] ... in Myanmar will become a reality sooner than later," he told reporters.
He said a reference to Aung San Suu Kyi was not included in the statement because there was no consensus.
~more~
Seems like recognition of Burma's puppet regime, and the horrible history of sacrifice in Burma, at this point might bring up nightmares from the past. The emerging corporate government in China, and the well established corporate government here in the US will undoubtedly ignore the whole thing, yet the sheeple remain hopeful, while their only hope remains a prisoner.
Will there be a discussion about the murder of thousands of Buddhist monks who were killed for standing as an example for the demonstrations against corrupt government or anything mentioned about who controls the oil in Rangoon? I hold the highest of hopes for Obama and imagine world peace and harmony for all of us sheeple, but...I think not.
Quote: "Imagine whirled Peas"...from the bumper sticker of an old friend
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