Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest, was on Friday allowed by the military rulers to ascertain from key Western diplomats in Yangon the exact impact of international sanctions on the country.
Their meeting, arranged by the junta at the Government Guest House, followed two other meetings that Minister Aung Kyi held with Ms. Suu Kyi in the past week. These moves by the government are a sequel to her offer to “cooperate” with the junta to try and get the economic embargo lifted.
The junta released no details of its interactions with the long-incarcerated Nobel Peace Laureate. However, her close political associate Nyan Win said from Yangon that Ms. Suu Kyi had informed the junta that she would first like to know the true impact of sanctions. Mr. Nyan Win said the Western diplomats, who met Ms. Suu Kyi, later held follow-up talks with some leaders of her Nation League for Democracy at the party office. They included the NLD’s Temporary Chairman, U That Tun.
The new flurry of political talks, with Ms. Suu Kyi at the centre of the junta-sanctioned exercise, is also seen in the light of a new move by the United States to talk directly to Myanmar’s generals.
