Myanmar to receive UN envoy, ASEAN condemns violence

New York, Sep 28 (DPA) The government of Myanmar has agreed to receive a United Nations envoy dispatched to assess the crisis in that country where military authorities have cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators, a UN spokeswoman said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has received Myanmar’s assurance it will cooperate with envoy Ibrahim Gambari, Marie Okabe said Thursday.


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“The secretary general is pleased by the cooperation,” Okabe said.

Gambari’s trip is supported the UN Security Council, which met Wednesday to discuss the situation, but was unable to take any measures until Gambari has reported on his findings with Yangon.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which Myanmar is a member, Thursday condemned the violence committed by one of its members.

The group said in a statement issued by its leader, Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo, that it was “appalled to receive reports of automatic weapons being used and demanded that the Myanmar government immediately desist from the use of violence against demonstrators.”

The statement was distributed at UN headquarters, where foreign ministers of Asean were taking part in debate in the UN General Assembly. Diplomats said Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win, who was in New York, did not sign the statement.

Win met Ban and gave an assurance that Gambari will be received in Yangon, the UN said.

The statement expressed “revulsion” to Win over reports of violence committed against the demonstrators and the deaths of several people, including foreigners and a Japanese photographer.

The statement called for “utmost restraint” and for a political solution. It called also for the release of all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asean also welcomed the decision by Yangon to receive Gambari and asked the military regime to “cooperate fully and work with him”.

“Mr. Gambari’s role as a neutral interlocutor among all parties can help defuse the dangerous situation,” the statement said. “The foreign ministers urge the Myanmar government to grant him full access to all parties in Myanmar, as they had done in the past.”

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