BURMA -- ENCOURAGING A REGIME--NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000327 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP PACOM FOR FPA NSC FOR LIZ PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL BM SUBJECT: BURMA -- ENCOURAGING A REGIME--NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY DIALOGUE REF: A. RANGOON 321 ¶B. RANGOON 302 Classified By: CDA Larry Dinger for reasons 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (C) In reftel conversations, the Charge, at the request of National League for Democracy (NLD) Central Executive Committee (CEC) member Khin Maung Swe, conveyed to Burmese Government Ministers that the NLD is ready to engage the regime in unconditional dialogue with all issues on the table. Per Ref. A, Labor Minister Aung Kyi (who is also the regime's designated interlocutor with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK)),responded by asking: what level of dialogue: ASSK only with Senior General Than Shwe? ASSK with the Labor Minister? During a reception on June 2, the Charge had opportunity to pass the query back to Khin Maung Swe, who said he would need to consult with his CEC colleagues before replying. ¶2. (C) Khin Maung Swe and two NLD colleagues at the reception seemed pleased by Aung Kyi's willingness to at least ask the level of dialogue the NLD seeks. Charge noted that the Minister had not committed to dialogue, but he had indicated willingness to give further dialogue serious consideration if the NLD is agreeable to discussion at his level. The NLD members thanked the Charge for passing messages in both directions. Concluding the conversation, the Charge gave his personal opinion: that the NLD should seize any reasonable opportunity to renew a dialogue with Ministerial levels of the regime, without insisting that ASSK-Than Shwe is the only appropriate starting point. One never knows what results a conversation might eventually bring until one actually engages. DINGER