World urges Burma junta to avoid violence
The international community appealed to Burma’s military leaders today not to crack down on the tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators taking to its streets.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the peaceful nature of the protests and hope the government would “seize this opportunity to engage without delay in dialogue with all the relevant parties to the national reconciliation process.”
European Union spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said they were watching the situation closely, but not yet considering an expansion of sanctions against the junta.
Stability and peace “can only be achieved through political reform,” said a statement issued by the office of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Britain's Gordon Brown said the protests in Burma had shown the failure of the country’s regime to demonstrate that real political change was possible.
“It is vital that the Burmese authorities exercise restraint in the face of the demonstrators, and seize the opportunity to launch a process of real political reform,” he said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the EU presidency.
“It is disturbing that they are now threatening to use force against the demonstrators,” said Mr Brown. “Violent suppression of the demonstrations would be a tragedy and another missed opportunity for Burma.”
Swedish Aid Minister Gunilla Carlsson said the eyes of the world were now on Burma to see how the junta will handle the protesters’ call for reform.
“I want to express our strong support for the Burmese people in their efforts to create a democratic future. The Burmese regime now has the opportunity to start a peaceful dialogue and respect people’s freedom of expression and gathering. We encourage the regime to take that chance,” Carlsson said.
Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu praised the “courage of the people of Burma” in backing the demonstrations, which have grown steadily and are now led by Buddhist monks.
“It is so like the rolling mass action that eventually toppled apartheid” in South Africa, Tutu said in a statement.
He backed international calls for the release of all political prisoners and for a peaceful resolution to the protests.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Aung San Suu Kyi should take her place as elected leader of Burma. Suu Kyi, who is held under house arrest in Rangoon by the military junta, appeared outside her house last week as a gesture of support the marchers.
After praising her public appearance, Mr Miliband said, “I think it will be a hundred times better when she takes her rightful place as the elected leader of a free and democratic Burma.”
Thailand’s Surin Pitsuwan, who is expected to take over the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next January, hoped that the massive protests would lead to change.
“We do hope in ASEAN that things will not get out of hand, will not become too violent, but would lead to some kind of a congregation, some kind of change,” he said.
