Than Shwe to meet Suu Kyi, but with preconditions

MYANMAR: Myanmar junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe told a U.N. envoy this week that he will “personally” meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but with preconditions, the state media reported Thursday.

Than Shwe told Ibrahim Gambari during their talks Tuesday that he is willing to meet Suu Kyi if she gives up her calls for confronting the government and for imposing sanctions on it, state TV and radio reported.

Than Shwe told Gambari that “in her dealings with the government, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has called for confrontation, utter devastation, economic sanctions and all other sanctions,” the state media said.

“If she abandons these calls, Senior Gen. Than Shwe told Mr. Gambari that he will personally meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” the media said. Daw is a term of respect for older women.

Than Shwe’s preconditions are not new - the junta has regularly called on Suu Kyi to give up her confrontational attitude - but it is the first time the junta leader has said he is willing to meet with her.

This willingness is remarkable given that Than Shwe has a visceral dislike for the Nobel peace laureate and is said to bristle with anger even at the mention of her name. Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, is not known to have met a senior junta leader since 2002.

Gambari, the U.N.’s special envoy to Myanmar, spent four days in the country from Saturday to Tuesday in a bid to persuade the junta to end its crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

But state TV and radio said Thursday that 2,093 were arrested under the emergency law that was invoked on Sept. 25, banning assembly of more than five people. It said 692 have been freed.

The demonstrators were arrested under three categories - people who were actively involved in the protests, those who supported the protesters, and those who inadvertently took part.

Yangon, Friday, AP