MEDIA REACTION: 'ERA OF ENGAGEMENT' WITH JUNTA

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 001030



STATE FOR SCA/INSB, PM/CBM, PM/PRO



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: 'ERA OF ENGAGEMENT' WITH JUNTA



1. Summary: In an opinion piece in the government-

owned "The Rising Nepal," with an estimated 5,000

circulation, Nepal's senior journalist P. Kharel

writes that the junta seems more flexible in Myanmar

and that engagement by the international community

could result in political reforms. End Summary.



2. Excerpts: "At long last, there is some movement in the

junta-ruled Myanmar. Democracy movement leader Aung San

Suu Kyi, in the recent weeks, has become quite active

after Senior General Than Shwe asked her to negotiate with

the West so that sanctions against the regime could be

lifted. Subsequently, Myanmar Relations Minister Aung Kyi

met with the opposition leader twice in the first week of

October. Soon after, Suu Kyi had a rare meeting with

British and Australian ambassadors to discuss the

sanctions."



3. "... US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian

and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot

Marciel met with the Nobel Peace laureate last fortnight.

The duo also held talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein in

the administrative capital Naypyidaw in what Washington

signaled as having set in motion its new policy of

"engaging" the junta in meaningful talks for political

reforms. US President Barack Obama seeks a new era of

engagement with the military regime."



4. "The US team's meetings in Myanmar came in stark

contrast to the fact that Myanmar's junta chief Than Shwe

last summer refused permission to UN Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon to meet with Suu Kyi, who remained in prison

facing trial over an incident in which an American man

swam uninvited to her lakeside house in May 2009. US State

Department spokesman Ian Kelly described the Campbell

visit as "the second step in the beginning of a dialogue

with Burma." Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy

spokesman Nyan Win also endorsed the trip as the "start of

direct engagement between the US and Myanmar government"

but hastened to add that the party did not expect any "big

change" in the near future."



5. "...The recent move by the Obama's administration to

engage the regime and convince it of the need for holding

dialogue with the main opposition has raised hopes that

something substantive might be in the offing. Elections

are scheduled for next year and, without the participation

of the NLD, the government the poll will toss up will

hardly have any democratic legitimacy. Perhaps aware of

the situation and the realization that even ASEAN members

have begun intensifying pressure on the junta for reforms,

the Than Shwe regime has hinted that Suu Kyi might be

released from detention. Such a decision would raise the

prospects of political reforms and civilian rule after

nearly five decades. Suu Kyi might even be receptive to

the junta's demand that the army have a role in any new

political set-up."



BERRY