General News
7/1/2009 6:40 AM ET
(RTTNews) -
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is likely to meet Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit to the country later this week, reports say.
"He (Ban Ki-moon) is supposed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi when he arrives here but we cannot definitely tell his schedule," a U.N. official said Wednesday.
Ban is scheduled to visit Myanmar Friday and Saturday at the official invitation of the ruling junta during which he is also expected to meet with the country's most powerful man, Senior General Than Shwe, head of the State Peace and Development Council.
During his talks with Myanmar's senior leadership, Ban is expected to make a strong plea for the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi; resumption of dialogue between the government and the opposition; and the need to create conditions conducive for holding credible elections planned for next year.
According to a U.N. statement, Ban believes that the sooner these issues are addressed, the earlier will Myanmar be able to move towards peace, democracy and prosperity.
Besides Suu Kyi and Than Shwe, the U.N. Chief, who last visited Myanmar last May to expedite international aid to the impoverished country, plans to meet with political parties and ethnic groups and travel to the Irrawaddy delta region that was devastated by Cyclone Nargis May 2-3 last year, killing up to 150,000 persons.
Incidentally, the first-day Ban visit will coincide with the resumption of the trial of Suu Kyi on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest, by allowing a U.S. national to swim to her lakeside residence in Yangon.
by RTT Staff Writer
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