BURMA: AUNG SAN SUU KYI MEETS WITH LIAISON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000682

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: AUNG SAN SUU KYI MEETS WITH LIAISON
MINISTER, DOCTOR

REF: A. RANGOON 664

B. RANGOON 321 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: P/E Chief Jennifer A. Harhigh for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

Summary
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1. (C) Liaison Minister Aung Kyi, the regime's designated
point person for discussions with Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK),
met with ASSK October 3 for the first time since January

2008. Details of the meeting are as yet unavailable.
Meanwhile, ASSK personal physician Dr. Tin Myo Win (Douglas)
visited her October 2 and reported she is in good health and
encourages the United States, Australia, and the EU to pursue
meetings with her at her residence, presumably to follow up
to her recent letter to Than Shwe regarding sanctions (Ref
A). End summary.

Aung Kyi meets ASSK in response to letter to Than Shwe
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2. (SBU) Liaison Minister Aung Kyi met with ASSK for
approximately 50 minutes October 2 at the Sein Lei Kan Tha
Government Guesthouse, near the U.S. Embassy and ASSK's
residence. State-run MRTV announced the meeting during the
evening news, and the New Light of Myanmar published a brief
article and photo about the meeting October 5. The GOB cited
ASSK's letter to Than Shwe as the reason for the meeting,
noting that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
received the correspondence October 1 and dispatched Aung Kyi
to Rangoon the following day. The government did not report
any of the substantive details of the meeting between Aung
Kyi and ASSK, and ASSK's account will not be available until
she next has contact with her lawyers or other visitors.


3. (C) Aung Kyi, who is also the Labor Minister, was
appointed by regime in October 2007 as Liaison Minister to
ASSK. This was the sixth meeting between ASSK and Aung Kyi
since that time; the two last met in January 2008. During
ASSK's meeting with Senator Webb in August, she expressed
regret that talks with Aung Kyi had broken down due to a
misunderstanding and stressed repeatedly her interest in
resuming those discussions. Following Senator Webb's visit,
Post sent a letter to Aung Kyi conveying ASSK's desire to
restart dialogue with him without preconditions. In May, CDA
verbally relayed a message to Aung Kyi from the National
League for Democracy (NLD) Central Executive Committee (CEC)
that the party was ready for unconditional dialogue with the
regime (Ref B).

Doctor: ASSK anxious to meet CDA
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4. (C) Meanwhile, NLD spokesman and ASSK lawyer Nyan Win
confirmed that Douglas examined ASSK at her residence for
approximately two hours October 2; she is in good health.


5. (C) During a conversation October 3, Douglas told Charge
that ASSK is anxious to meet with him and the Australian
Ambassador, and feels that Charge may have the best chance of
securing a meeting given the outcome of the U.S. policy
review. The Charge should request that such a meeting take
place at ASSK's residence, not the Government Guesthouse.
Douglas added that ASSK is aware a meeting took place between
U.S. officials and the Burmese delegation on the margins of
UNGA and asked if a follow-on visit to Burma is planned. If
so, ASSK would like the opportunity to meet with any USG
visitors.


6. (C) Charge responded to Douglas that we have formally
requested a meeting with ASSK on two occasions. The Charge
noted that we are aware of, and share, her desire for
dialogue with the GOB, and expect any USG visitor who travels
to Burma likewise would seek to meet her. Given that ASSK's

RANGOON 00000682 002 OF 002


lawyers may be the next to see her, P/E Chief passed an
identical message to ASSK attorney and NLD spokesperson Nyan
Win. He said he may visit her October 7 and will relay the
message.

UK receives similar message
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7. (C) The UK Ambassador told us October 5 that Douglas had
delivered a similar message to him, noting that ASSK is eager
to meet the U.S., Australian and EU Chiefs of Mission and
that there are indications from the authorities that such a
request would result in a positive response. The UK
represents EU President Sweden locally.

Comment
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8. (C) As noted, no details of the ASSK-Aung Kyi meeting
are yet available, but it is encouraging the regime moved
quickly to acknowledge ASSK,s personal letter to Than Shwe.


9. (C) We plan to renew our efforts to secure a meeting
with ASSK by requesting access to discuss ASSK's letter to
Than Shwe. In that letter ASSK expressed a willingness to
cooperate with the SPDC to lift sanctions, but noted the need
to understand the scope and impact of sanctions, as well as
the views of those countries that impose them. In that
regard she specifically requested in the letter to meet the
U.S., Australian, and EU chiefs of mission, and we presume
her message to the Charge through Douglas is related, at
least in part, to that concern. We are coordinating our
latest ASSK meeting request with the British and Australian
embassies; both will make similar approaches to the GOB.
VAJDA