BURMA: INDONESIAN AMBASSADOR PREVIEWS ALATAS VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000438

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV BM ID
SUBJECT: BURMA: INDONESIAN AMBASSADOR PREVIEWS ALATAS VISIT

REF: A. JAKARTA 599


B. BANGKOK 2217

C. RANGOON 1215

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: Indonesian Ambassador to Burma, Wyoso
Prodjowarsito, revealed on March 31 that Presidential Advisor
Ali Alatas may revisit Burma o/a April 17, although that date
could slip due to the concurrent Burmese New Year.
Prodjowarsito portrayed Indonesia as a close friend of Burma
and suggested that Alatas would offer the regime "help and
advice." Alatas, as during his most recent visit in 2003,
will not make a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi "a top
priority." Prodjowarsito's preview gives us the impression
that Alatas does not intend to depart from his soft approach
toward the Burmese regime. End Summary.


2. (C) On March 31 COM and P/E Chief called on Indonesian
Ambassador to Burma, Wyoso Prodjowarsito, and learned that
Indonesia had yet to receive an invitation to the second
Bangkok meeting on Burma, scheduled for April 30 (ref B).
However, Prodjowarsito had recently met with the Burmese
Deputy FM and expected an invitation imminently.
Prodjowarsito offered his own view that the first Bangkok
meeting, held last December, was helpful in that the GOB had
agreed to attend and sent FM Win Aung as its envoy. However,
Prodjowarsito said, the GOB had provided no new information
at the first session and expectations would be higher for
something concrete at the upcoming meeting.


3. (C) Prodjowarsito said that Indonesian Presidential
Advisor Ali Alatas was scheduled to arrive in Burma o/a April
17, but noted that this date fell on Burmese New Year and
could slip due to the related water festival, which
effectively shuts the GOB down April 12-17. According to
Prodjowarsito, "Indonesia is a close friend of Myanmar;
Alatas will visit at the invitation of the GOB and he will
offer the Burmese whatever help and advice we can."
Prodjowarsito said that when Alatas made his most recent
visit to Burma in September 2003 (ref C) he had met with SPDC
Chairman Than Shwe and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, meetings he
would likely pursue again. "However," the Ambassador added,
"it has never been Alatas' top priority to see Aung San Suu
Kyi and he will not pursue that opportunity unless she asks
for it."


4. (C) Prodjowarsito told the COM that the U.S. should not
pressure the SPDC. "You have to be patient," he said, "and
you need to lift sanctions in order to give the GOB some room
to breath." COM replied that the regime was responsible for
its own predicament and stated that there are numerous steps
(e.g. the release of ASSK and the rest of the NLD leadership;
the release of 1,300 political prisoners; etc.) that the SPDC
could take to improve its standing with the international
community. The COM referred to a statement the GOB had
issued on March 28, critical of recent U.S. Congressional
testimony on Burma, that complained no country can transform
itself into a democracy "overnight." The COM observed that
the military had seized power in 1962 and said, "Forty two
years hardly qualifies as "overnight."


5. (C) Comment: The Indonesian Ambassador in Rangoon is not
a major player and he seemed somewhat uninformed about recent
Burma developments. He does, however, get more deeply
involved when Alatas is in town. According to Ambassador
Prodjowarsito, Alatas operates independently from UN Special
Envoy Razali as well as from the Bangkok process. Although
separate reporting (ref A and previous) indicates that Alatas
does in fact coordinate with others on Burma, we did not get
the impression from this meeting that the Indonesian
Presidential Advisor intends to depart from the "soft"
approach he took during his previous visit. End Comment.
Martinez