BURMA: MALAYSIA MFA WANTS GAMBARI TO PLAY ROLE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUALA LUMPUR 001610 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/MTS AND IO E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM BM MY SUBJECT: BURMA: MALAYSIA MFA WANTS GAMBARI TO PLAY ROLE IN DIALOGUE REF: A. RAPSON EMAIL RECEIVED 9 NOV 2007 ¶B. EAP PRESS GUIDANCE 8 NOV 2007 ¶C. KUALA LUMPUR 1563 - BURMA'S ASEAN SUMMIT PARTICIPATION Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (C) Polchief spoke with the Malaysian Foreign Ministry's Southeast Asia and South Pacific Division chief Rahimi Harun on November 9, and conveyed ref A points on Burma welcoming Aung San Suu Kyi's call for meaningful dialogue and raising concern over the regime's rejection of UN Special Advisor Gambari's proposal to help initiate the process. Rahimi responded that the MFA had yet to receive a report from their Rangoon embassy on Gambari's latest mission, and thanked polchief for sharing information on what had transpired. Malaysia would await Gambari's views before making an assessment or drawing conclusions in the run-up to the ASEAN summit. The international community could not expect Gambari's mission to unfold smoothly. It would be a concern, however, if the Burmese regime rejected Gambari's role in a future dialogue, as Rahimi was not convinced that bipartite talks without Gambari's presence would make any progress. "It is very crucial for Gambari to play the broker." To be effective, Rahimi added, Gambari should remain somewhat "neutral," and would need to take into account the Burmese generals' concerns over Gambari's role. ¶2. (C) Separately, we received a readout of the British High Commissioner's November 6 discussion with MFA Secretary General Rastam on the subject of Burma. Malaysia strongly supported Gambari's mission, Rastam reiterated. He recognized that, if Gambari's latest mission failed, ASEAN would have to react accordingly at the Singapore Summit and more criticism of the Burmese regime would be likely. Rastam stressed the need for a future role for the military in Burma, but offered no particular ideas. Rastam argued against the effectiveness of sanctions and welcomed thoughts on future "carrots." KEITH