Myanmar Signals Interest In Talks

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

This is a typical political move--hold talks and maybe your prob will go away.

YANGON, Myanmar -- Ruling generals here and detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi appear to be paving the way for talks as the two sides take cautious steps toward ending a two-decadelong deadlock.

Ms. Suu Kyi's party said it was prepared to make "adjustments" for the sake of dialogue, and the junta has appointed a relatively flexible Cabinet-level official to coordinate contact with Ms. Suu Kyi.

The junta's top general offered earlier this week to meet with Ms. Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. But he said she must first renounce her calls for international sanctions against the regime, which has been widely condemned for crushing mass protests against it last month.

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**Tumbleweed** · Admin Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 4

I doubt talks will accomplish much. They have a shoot first, ask questions later policy.

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

I agree, to me they are just trying to fade the heat, until the wporld forgets Burma. It will not take long.

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

Well the Senate is in the mix. Hopefully, they will help the Burmese more than they have Americans.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee is weighing measures to press for democratic change in Myanmar, including an arms embargo and prosecuting its leaders in an international criminal court, a senior aide said on Thursday.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will soon present draft legislation, after the former Burma crushed pro-democracy protests last month, said Keith Luse, a senior committee staff member.

"There's a thought to encourage the equivalent of a six-party process within the region to include Burma, China, India, Russia, Japan, ASEAN and perhaps other countries, understanding that the Burmese leaders might initially boycott," he said, drawing a parallel to the six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations with North Korea.

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**Tumbleweed** · Admin Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 4

Not a damn one of them came forward to do anything yet. I don't see them doing much in the future..

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

Tumble, I covered this in my blog. Burma is teeming with natural resources, nat. gas, oilk gemstones, etc. That is the difference.

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

I feel so good thyat another of my predictions is coming true. I love my job!

BANGKOK, Oct. 24 -- While activists focus on increasing pressure on Burma's military leaders to open a dialogue with the country's pro-democracy activists, diplomatic consensus is eroding on what steps to take next.

Pro-democracy advocates had hoped that last month's protests -- led by monks, who are revered in Burma -- would galvanize world opinion and create enough outside pressure to force the junta's leaders to the bargaining table. Indeed, for the first time, the U.N. Security Council approved a formal censure of Burma and called for all political prisoners to be released.

But now there are growing divisions among countries about the best approach to Burma. And those who sense that democracy is closer than it has been in decades are grappling with how the country's transition would be managed.

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**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

I agree with this guy. Talks are nothing more than impotent ways to stave off the change in govt. The leaders will use it for all it is worth.

The leader of a Burmese ethnic army has urged all opponents of the ruling junta to unite in the aftermath of last month's uprising.

"All those battling the regime must co-operate," said Colonel Yawd Serk, of the Shan State Army (SSA).

"If we cannot unite, and if the international community does not come to our help, then nothing will change in Burma for a decade."

Colonel Serk, speaking at his fortified hilltop camp in the jungles close to the Thai border, did not sound optimistic

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**Tumbleweed** · Admin Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 4

Quote:

"If we cannot unite, and if the international community does not come to our help, then nothing will change in Burma for a decade."

Good point. Without outside pressure I don't expect much to change.

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

IMO, the junta will do as little as possible as long as the world is watching. Once attention is lost they will go back to business as usual.

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

The junta fires back a washington.

Myanmar's military government stepped up its propaganda campaign against the United States on Sunday, accusing Washington of inciting last month's pro-democracy demonstrations in hopes of installing a puppet government.

Demonstrations that began Aug. 19 over high prices for fuel and consumer goods grew into a broad-based movement for democratic reform that attracted tens of thousands of people in Yangon, the country's biggest city.

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**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

This shows what I have been saying. Once it slides from the news--who cares?

YANGON, Myanmar - More than 100 Buddhist monks marched peacefully Wednesday in a northern Myanmar town noted for its defiance of the country's military rulers, the first large protest since the junta violently crushed a wave anti-government demonstrations.

The monks marched for nearly an hour in the town of Pakokku, chanting a Buddhist prayer that has come to be associated with the pro-democracy cause. They did not carry signs or shout slogans, but their action was clearly in defiance of the military government, as one monk spelled out in a radio interview.

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**Tumbleweed** · Admin Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 4

Sounds like the monks aren't going quietly into the night. Laughing

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

Rice bowls against guns--sounds like a done deal. Trying to keep Burma in the news. They know that out of sight out of mind mentality of the US.

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

Statement from the woman who won the Peace Prize awhile back.

Following is the text of the statement by Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, released Thursday by U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

"I wish to thank all those who have stood by my side all this time, both inside and outside my country. I am also grateful to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his unwavering support for the cause of national reconciliation, democracy and human rights in my country.

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