http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=65501
UN Security Council about face, demand report on Burma
New York (dpa) - After rebuffing the United States earlier this
week on its request for new information on Burma, the UN Security
Council on Friday agreed that Secretary-General Kofi Annan should
provide new information on the situation in the Southeast Asian
nation.
US Ambassador John Bolton earlier this week accused Burma's
military government of seeking nuclear power, violating human
rights and persecuting ethnic minorities. He demanded a briefing by
Annan.
But China on Wednesday objected to the US demand. The council
president, Russian Ambassador Andrey Denisov, said it has not been
established that Burma was a threat to peace. Denisov referred the
case to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
But on Thursday, the presidency of the 15-nation council for
December rotated to British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry. Council
members took up again the US request and China agreed with other
council members that they should be told about what's going on in
Burma.
Earlier Friday, Malaysian lawmakers in Kuala Lumpur urged leaders
from Southeast Asian nations to get tough on Burma at the upcoming
Asean summit December 12-14 and put an end to a regional policy of
non-interference in member countries' internal affairs.
Last week, Burma's government extended the house arrest of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the last
16 years under house arrest or in detention after winning the
presidential elections in 1990. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for
demanding democracy in her country.
Bolton told reporters Friday that Annan himself should give the
council a briefing on Burma. Annan had been sending envoys to
Yangon to discuss democratic change in past years.
"There are press reports that Burmese authorities are seeking
nuclear power capabilities, diverting scarce resources better used
to address the needs of the Burmese people," Bolton said, using the
former name of Burma, in a letter to the council earlier this
week.
"It has destroyed villages, targeted ethnic minorities and forced
relocations, leading to a large number of both internally displaced
persons and refugees across international borders," he said.
Bolton said the flow of narcotics through Burma has been a
"catalyst" in the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and
potentially destabilizing international crime.
"The human rights situation is disconcerting due to the
international security consequences of the regime's actions," he
said.
He accused the military government in Yangon of failing to initiate
democratic reforms while repressing political opponents. He said
the regime is holding more than 1,100 political prisoners.
In Kuala Lumpur, Zaid Ibrahim, a Malaysian government legislator
and chairman of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Democracy
in Burma, said Burma's "misbehaviour" was "interfering with our own
internal and regional stability".
He was speaking to some 30 delegates from Malaysia, Cambodia,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand at a two-day
conference on how to improve the situation in Burma.
"We must not allow 'non-interference' to shield our hearts and
minds from the suffering of 50 million of our own neighbours," Zaid
was quoted as saying by the official Bernama agency.
Zaid urged Asean leaders to press harder for reform in Burma.
