US in Burma aid talks with Suu Kyi
26 February BBC
The US has begun talks with Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi about US aid programmes in the country, says the top US diplomat in
Burma.
The US charge d’affaires, Larry Dinger, said he was also consulting
Burma’s military-backed authorities.
The US currently imposes sanctions on Burma, and offers direct aid
only for emergency and humanitarian causes.
Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) recently called for
talks on modifying sanctions.
“Of course, the United States is engaging in a dialogue with Aung
Sang Suu Kyi and the NLD about US assistance programmes in Burma,” Mr
Dinger said, adding the dialogue began on Tuesday.
“We hope that it will be a continuing conversation,” he told the BBC.
“We also engaged with the authorities in Naypyidaw and other
stakeholders on such important issues in the effort to consider all
important perspectives in the formulating of US policies toward Burma,”
he said.
Burma’s critics have demanded that the more than 2,000 political
prisoners in Burma’s jails be released and a genuine role in governance
be granted to all voices in the country.
Last November’s elections, won overwhelmingly by a military-backed
party, were denounced as a sham by the US, Britain, Australia, Europe.
However, Burma’s closest neighbours, led by Thailand, China and
India, are active participants in Burma’s economy.
This offers rich natural resources access to which is controlled by a
military elite.
In its recent statement, the NLD said sanctions primarily affect
Burma’s rulers, not the general public - but did not say whether it
wanted them dropped or strengthened.
It said it was seeking talks with the US, EU, Canada and Australia to
see “when, how and under what circumstances sanctions might be modified
in the interests of democracy, human rights and a healthy economic
environment”.
Since her release in November, Aung San Suu Kyi has called for
greater foreign investment in her country, which she says has been “left
behind”.
The NLD, which won the last elections in 1990 but was never allowed
to take power, is not represented in parliament.
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