Myanmar's ruling junta on Wednesday dismissed reconciliatory moves by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as insincere and dishonest, dealing a blow to efforts to engage with the reclusive regime. The rebuke came just as the 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate met a junta go-between, which suggested lines of communication were still open, despite the disparaging remarks in the media.
Suu Kyi, who is held under house arrest, had asked to meet junta leader Senior General Than Shwe in a letter dated November 11, saying she wanted to work with his government in the interests of the country. In a similar letter on September 25 she stated her desire to work with Western countries and the junta to bring about the lifting of sanctions, which critics say have been largely ineffective because of Myanmar's trade with China and India.
"Her letters suggest her dishonesty, and are designed to tarnish the image of the ruling government, putting all the blame on the government," said a commentary in the state-run New Light of Myanmar. Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years and is shunned by the West because of its rights record, plans to hold multi-party elections in 2010).
Since September, the international community has been encouraged by reconciliatory gestures by the junta, which has allowed high-level United States and United Nations delegations to visit the country to meet with opposition parties and top generals. Suu Kyi had tried to harm the government's image in her offer to work with the regime and her behaviour was "highly questionable", commentaries carried in three state-run newspapers said.
On Wednesday, Suu Kyi met Labour Minister Aung Kyi, who has acted as the intermediary, illustrating the unpredictable nature of Myanmar's rulers." The commentary in the state media was the first response by the regime to Suu Kyi's requests and appeared to criticise the National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader for leaking one of the letters to the media.
"The two letters reflect her dishonesty. She should have approached the government in an honest way in order to work out the stalemate," it said. In her last letter, Suu Kyi expressed thanks to the regime for allowing her to meet US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the highest-ranking US diplomat to visit Myanmar in 14 years, in November.
Myanmar's rulers had previously allowed top Western economists to advise the government and gave the go-ahead for diplomats to meet with Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late independence hero Aung San, who is seen as the biggest threat to the junta's grip on power.
Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in some form of detention, is appealing against a conviction for breaching an internal security law by allowing an American intruder to stay for two nights at her lakeside home. The verdict was widely seen as an attempt to keep her sidelined in the run-up to the former Burma's first election in two decades. The NLD scored a landslide victory in the 1990 election that the military refused to recognise.