SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES REPORT FROM MYANMAR ENVOY THAT DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI IS UNINJURED; URGES HER RELEASE

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES REPORT FROM MYANMAR ENVOY THAT DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI

IS UNINJURED; URGES HER RELEASE

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General welcomes the report from his Special Envoy for Myanmar that he has seen Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today, and that she is uninjured and in good spirits.

The Special Envoy, Razali Ismail, met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi shortly before he left Yangon Tuesday to wind up his five-day mission to Myanmar.  He undertook his tenth mission from 6 to 10 June under a specific instruction from the Secretary-General to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been held incommunicado under “protective custody” since the violent clashes that took place between her supporters and pro-Government protesters in northern Myanmar on 30 May.

However, the Secretary-General remains seriously concerned about the fact that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) are still denied freedom of movement.  He, once again, strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to release her and other NLD leaders from the continued detention immediately and begin a dialogue aimed at national reconciliation without further delay.  At the same time, he calls on the international community, and especially countries in the region, to join in his appeal to safeguard the process of national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar, which continues to represent the only guarantee for progress towards prosperity and stability.  He continues to believe that the present situation is not merely a question of “law and order”, but rather one that derives from the political aspirations of the Myanmar people who are overwhelmingly in favour of change.

The Special Envoy intends to visit New York later this month to discuss with the Secretary-General and representatives of the international community, especially the countries of the region, future steps that need to be taken to implement the mandate given by the General Assembly to facilitate national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar.

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