A Myanmar man reads a morning newspaper at a tea shop Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009, in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi awoke at her lakeside home Wednesday to begin serving her latest house arrest, following her globally condemned conviction that lawyers said they would promptly appeal. The 64-year-old Nobel laureate was convicted Tuesday by a Myanmar court of violating her previous house arrest by allowing an uninvited American who swam to her home to stay for two days. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win) (Khin Maung Win - AP) By FOSTER KLUG
The Associated Press
Friday, August 14, 2009 11:14 AM
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration gave its blessing to Democratic Sen. Jim Webb's trip to military-run Myanmar, a visit criticized by dissident groups and conservatives who argue that it validates a violent junta accused of massive abuses against its people.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters that the Obama administration gave Webb a detailed briefing about the region before he left and would support him while in Myanmar. Webb was in the country Friday, the first member of Congress to visit in more than a decade, and was scheduled to hold a rare meeting with junta leader Than Shwe.
Asked whether the administration thought it was a good time for Webb to visit, Crowley said, "We are certainly supportive of Senator Webb's travel to the region, and let's see what he actually does. You know, he has been responsible for his own schedule and we certainly approve of his being there."
Webb's visit comes amid world anger at the conviction Tuesday of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with an American citizen, and the beginning of another 18-month house arrest for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
In a letter to Webb, three Myanmar dissident groups expressed amazement that the senator would visit Myanmar, also called Burma, so close to the verdict against Suu Kyi.
"We are concerned that the military regime will manipulate and exploit your visit and propagandize that you endorse their treatment on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and over 2,100 political prisoners, their human rights abuses on the people of Burma, and their systematic, widespread and ongoing attack against the ethnic minorities," the letter said.
Walter Lohman, director of the conservative Heritage Foundation's Asian studies center, said the meeting "will certainly serve to validate the junta at a time when international revulsion has reached one of its periodic, crisis driven peaks."
Webb, a Vietnam War veteran with a long-standing interest in Asia, is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Asia subcommittee. At a June hearing, he suggested that "affirmative engagement" would bring the most change to Myanmar.
His comments at the hearing have generated concern among those who believe a hard line is the best way to get Myanmar's generals to change.
The Obama administration is still reviewing its Myanmar policy but has said Suu Kyi's conviction will have a negative effect. The United States has traditionally relied heavily on tough sanctions meant to force the generals to respect human rights and release imprisoned political activists. Those sanctions are widely supported among both senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a trip through Asia in February, addressed the administration's dilemma with Myanmar. Neither tough U.S. sanctions nor engagement by neighbors, she said, has persuaded the junta to embrace democracy or release Suu Kyi.
It has been about two decades since Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory at the ballot box but was prevented from taking office. She has been detained without trial for more than 14 of the past 20 years.
Suu Kyi is charged with violating terms of her house arrest because an uninvited American man swam secretly to her closely guarded lakeside home and stayed two days. Her Myanmar supporters say the junta is using the bizarre case of the American swimmer as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi detained through next year's scheduled elections.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081401362.html
Comments
Post a Comment