Party officials from Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) met with a group of American scholars on Jan. 11 at the party's headquarters in Rangoon, party sources said.
The three-member group from the US, led by Karl D. Jackson, the director of Southeast Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University and an adviser to the president of the World Bank, were on a fact-finding mission to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, and had a 30-minute meeting with three NLD officials, including Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win.
“They asked about the NLD's current situation and its future agenda,” Nyan Win told The Irrawaddy on Monday.
Despite reports in exiled Burmese media that Jackson had met with Burmese pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi on Saturday, Jackson confirmed to The Irrawaddy that no such meeting took place. He said his group was on a study trip and that they acquired visas for Burma “without any [US] government involvement.”
The other two NLD leaders who met with Jackson's group were newly-elected central executive committee member Han Thar Myint and another party official, Ohn Kyaing.
“Mr Jackson told us he is specializing in Indonesian affairs but that he is also interested in Burma because the country has potential for economic growth,” said Ohn Kyaing.
According to sources in Rangoon, Jackson and his group also went to Burma's remote capital, Naypyidaw, and met with Burma's Minister for Science and Technology U Thaung and other government officials on Jan.11.
Besides his position as an adviser to the president of the World Bank and director of Southeast Asian Studies at John Hopkins University, Karl D. Jackson is the executive vice president of the International Finance Corporation. He formerly served as the national security adviser to the vice president of the US from 1991-93, and deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia in 1986-89.
In November, an American delegation led by US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Deputy Assistant Secretary Scot Marciel met with NLD officials.
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