US urges 'nations with influence' to push Myanmar
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Monks and their supporters run as police crack down on demonstrations in Yangon. Security forces swept through Myanmar's main city Thursday, killing nine people including a Japanese journalist, and arresting hundreds more in a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. | ||
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As the US Treasury Department froze the US assets of 14 top junta members, the White House urged the regime to let Myanmar-bound UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari meet with protest leaders and detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
US President George W. Bush said the world must press the junta to let the protests proceed and said "all nations that have influence" with Myanmar must throw their weight behind global efforts to end the crackdown.
"I call on all nations that have influence with the regime to join us in supporting the aspirations of the Burmese people and to tell the Burmese Junta to cease using force on its own people, who are peacefully expressing their desire for change," he said in a statement.
US officials did not deny that Bush's message was largely aimed at China and India, Myanmar's potent neighbors, but cautioned against reading it as a sign that Washington was worried they may hobble pressure efforts.
"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand their freedom, and the American people stand in solidarity with these brave individuals," the US president said.
"Every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand up for people suffering under a brutal military regime like the one that has ruled Burma for too long," said Bush, who made a direct appeal to Myanmar security forces.
"I urge the Burmese soldiers and police not to use force on their fellow citizens. I call on those who embrace the values of human rights and freedom to support the legitimate demands of the Burmese people," he said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino urged the junta to give Gambari "full access to all relevant parties while he is in Burma beginning tomorrow. This includes those jailed by the junta, religious leaders and Aung San Suu Kyi."
The Nobel Peace Prize winner's opposition National League for Democracy won 1990 parliamentary elections set aside by the junta, who have kept the 62-year-old activist under house arrest for most of the past two decades.
Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department tightened US sanctions, first imposed in 1997 and expanded in 2003, by freezing assets of top regime leaders, and a visa ban on alleged human rights violators and their families was pending.
Among those designated for sanctions were junta leader Than Shwe, who is minister of defense and chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); Vice Senior General Maung Aye, commander of the army and vice chairman of the SPDC; Lieutenant General Thein Sein, acting prime minister and first secretary of the SPDC; and General Thura Shwe Mann, joint chief of staff and member of the SPDC, along with other senior officials and military officers.
"The military leaders in Burma are living quite a wonderful lifestyle while the people are not. By tightening sanctions on them it's not going to make the people's life any worse," said Perino.
On a more symbolic front, the White House also indicated that it would continue to refer to Myanmar by the name "Burma" in a show of support for the pro-democracy activists there.
Spokesman Tony Fratto said Washington's refusal to use the junta's term for their country was "intentional" because "we choose not to use the language of a totalitarian dictatorial regime that oppresses its people."
His comments were in line with the US State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, which pointedly note that the 1989 name change never won approval from the country's legislators.
posted by Michael Suantak @ 1:14 AM
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