WASHINGTON — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he is still searching for a replacement for Ibrahim Gambari as the new special UN envoy for Burma.
“I would like to make it quite clear that there is no hiatus in my efforts to have this Myanmar [Burma] issue resolved as soon as possible,” Ban told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
Ban said he has not received any communication from the Burmese military junta about the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, in response to a reporter's question. A Burmese official said this week that Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, would be released in November.
“I can assure you that my chef de cabinet, Mr [Vijay] Nambiar has been continuously engaging himself with the Myanmar authorities, and as soon as we have a clearer picture about what is going on and what their intentions are, then we will have more consultations with them,” Ban said.
Nambiar was appointed to coordinate Burmese affairs for the secretary-general at the beginning of this year when Gambari, who was special envoy for the past few years, was transferred to a new assignment in Darfur.
Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said the United States would continue to its dialogue with the junta, though no new dates have been fixed for the next round of talks.
“We have had multiple conversations with Burma. I assume we'll continue the conversation, but I just don't know in what form at this point,” Crowley said at a State Department briefing.
Early this week, Crowley said: “It's important for the Government of Burma to reach out not only to those who wish to be politically active, but also to the various ethnic communities within Burma.”
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