World steps up pressure on Burma

New York - Former Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan, the incoming secretary general of Asean the massive protests in Burma would lead to change as the international community appealed to the junta not to use force to crack down on tens of thousands of prodemocracy demonstrators.


"We do hope in Asean that things will not get out of hand, will not become too violent, but would lead to some kind of a congregation, some kind of change,'' Surin told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

The current demonstrations could provide momentum for reform not seen in recent years, he said.

"I think it's different from previous gatherings in the past 10 or 20 years, in the sense that it's being led by an institution that is most respected in (Burma) society,'' he said, referring to the fact that the protesters were led by monks who factor significantly in this deeply Buddhist country.

But Surin cautioned that given the size of the crowd, ``it is worrisome that things could get out of hand.''

A number of countries, including Asean members, have called on Burma to follow through on repeated pledges to implement democratic reforms and urged restrainst.

Philippines's President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo saying that Asean ``would like to see further improvement in democracy in Myanmar (Burma).''

A similar call came from the United Nations, where SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon praised the peaceful nature of the protests and voiced his hopes that authorities in the country would ``seize this opportunity to engage without delay in dialogue with all the relevant parties to the national reconciliation process.''

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, US President George W. Bush tightened economic sanctions against leaders of the regime and also urged other nations to apply pressure.

"The United States will tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers, and we will impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights," President George W. Bush said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the protests had shown the failure of the country's regime to demonstrate that real political change was possible.

"It is vital that the Burmese authorities exercise restraint in the face of the demonstrators, and seize the opportunity to launch a process of real political reform,'' Brown wrote in a letter sent to UN SecretaryGeneral BanKimoon and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the EU presidency.

"It is disturbing that they are now threatening to use force against the demonstrators,'' Brown wrote. ``Violent suppression of the demonstrations would be a tragedy and another missed opportunity for Burma.''

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Aung San Suu Kyi should take her place as elected leader of Burma.

Suu Kyi, who is held under house arrest in Rangoon by the military junta, appeared outside her house last week as a gesture of support the marchers. Unconfirmed reports said she has been relocated to a highsecurity prison.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hit out at the crackdown on protests and said he would meet in Paris with exiled opposition figures to express his support.

"Tomorrow I will receive a delegation from the Burmese opposition in exile," Sarkozy said at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here.

Swedish Aid Minister Gunilla Carlsson said the eyes of the world were now on Burma, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the UN Security Council again to consider the situation in Burma

"We can only hope that things continue there without bloodshed,'' Merkel told reporters in New York, where she was attending the UN General Assembly meeting.

Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu praised the ``courage of the people of Burma'' in backing the demonstrations, which have grown steadily and are now led by Buddhist monks.

"It is so like the rolling mass action that eventually toppled apartheid'' in South Africa, Tutu said in a statement.

Leading donor Japan urged Myanmar's rulers "to remain calm, not to react in an extreme fashion."

"The public will has been expressed by the people who are marching on the streets," said foreign ministry spokesman Tomohiko Taniguchihe.

European Union spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said the 27nation bloc was watching the situation closely, but that it was not now considering an expansion of sanctions against the junta.

Stability and peace ``can only be achieved through political reform,'' said a statement issued by the office of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who was at the United Nations in New York where Burma was being discussed at the opening of the UN's General Assembly.

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer urged China, India and Asean, of which Burma is a member, to exert their influence on the regime, arguing their stance would carry more clout than the West.

"I think the voices that the Burmese military leadership hear the loudest are the voices of China and India," Downer said.

However, China said it would stick to its policy of noninterference.

"As a friendly neighbouring country of Myanmar (Burma), China hopes to see stability and economic development in Myanmar," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, calling on the government to "properly handle" the situation.

China is widely regarded to have been vital in keeping the military regime afloat through its deep economic links and arms sales, as well as by shielding it against UN sanctions for alleged human rights abuses.

In the 10 years since it joined Asean, Burma has proved a major headache for the region's budding democracies, who have been admonished by the West for failing to press for reforms.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a statement that the council must meet "to respond to the serious deterioration in the human rights situation over recent months", whileHuman Rights Watch and Amnesty Intenational made a similar request.