US warns Burma junta dialogue may be reviewed

The United States on Wednesday warned Burma's military generals that it could review its dialogue with them in the absence of democratic reforms.

The US warned Burma's military generals that it could review its dialogue with them. "I think it will be fair to say in terms of the election law and our desire to see an internal dialogue between the various stakeholders about the upcoming election that we are disappointed in the steps that had been taken," said US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs Kurt Campbell.

Washington has also conveyed concerns directly to the junta over its decision to hold elections that effectively barred key opposition leaders, an official said.

"I think it will be fair to say in terms of the election law and our desire to see an internal dialogue between the various stakeholders about the upcoming election that we are disappointed in the steps that had been taken," said US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs Kurt Campbell.

"We have conveyed (this) directly to the regime and also to the countries that encouraged us to begin a dialogue with the country," he said in reply to a question at a forum on US-Malaysia relations held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"We do think we have been able to pass some consequential messages but overall, I would say that we are going to need to see some steps on the part of the leadership in (Burma) to sustain this process going forward."

Elections in Burma, expected to be held by early November, have been widely criticised as lacking credibility because of laws that effectively bar opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part.

They will be the country's first elections for two decades, but Suu Kyi's political party has called a boycott over rules that would have forced it to expel her as leader if it wanted to participate.

The Obama administration, which has made a signature policy of engaging US adversaries, last year initiated a dialogue with the junta, judging that a previous approach of isolating the regime had not borne fruit.

Asked to comment on the US position on sanctions against Burma, Campbell said, "I would say we have obviously not eased sanctions and we always retain the right and the ability (to maintain them)."

US lawmakers are pushing the Obama administration to review its policy of dialogue with the junta and tighten sanctions to persuade the generals not to hold the elections, which rights groups call a sham.

Nine US senators across the political spectrum in a recent letter to Obama urged the Treasury Department to act on a law that would crack down on US bank accounts linked to Burma's leaders and target foreign banks that do business with the junta.

Source :http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/174741/us-warns-burma-junta-dialogue-may-be-reviewed