SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MYANMAR

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MYANMAR

The following statement was issued this morning by the Office of the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General welcomes the release Thursday of five more members of Parliament of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar, which he hopes will provide a new impetus to the ongoing talks between the Government and

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for democratization and national reconciliation in the country.

The Secretary-General has been encouraged by a series of recent developments, including the release last week of a dozen political prisoners and the opening of some NLD offices in Yangon, that have unfolded since the visit to the country of his Special Envoy, Razali Ismail, in early June.  He calls on the two sides to build on this momentum to achieve further progress in their dialogue process.

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