United Nations, September 28
Even as four Buddhist monks were arrested in a raid on a monastery outside Myanmar main city, triggering fresh clashes, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the Myanmar authorities to exercise restraint.

This TV grab image from a video obtained from the Democratic Voice of Burma on Friday shows Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai lying dead on the street after being shot by Myanmar troops in Yangon’s city centre the day before. The EU Commission voiced regret today at the death of the video-journalist in Myanmar, calling it both a sign of the regime’s “brutality” and a blow to the increasingly strained flow of information. Nagai, 50, a video-journalist for Tokyo-based APF News with years of experience covering world hotspots, was the first foreigner killed in Myanmar’s bloody crackdown on anti-government protests. — AFP/DVB photo

Addressing the ministerial-level meeting of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM), Ban asked the military government to engage without delay in a dialogue with all sections of society, release detained pro-democracy leaders and initiate a national reconciliation process.

Observing that economic and social development cannot take backseat to issues of peace and security, he said it was the moral duty of the international community to work towards a more equitable world.

Regretting that globalisation has left too many countries behind and has not “lifted all boats”, he called for “fresh thinking, new programme and policies” to correct the imbalance.

“We must renew our efforts to realise the Millennium Development goals, especially for the so-called ‘bottom billion’ of the world’s poor,” he said, reminding the 118-member NAM that it has graduated from counter cold war confrontation to become a voice of a “new and powerful South”.

Stating that there is no viable alternative to multilateralism, Ban asserted that to effectively tackle the full range of challenges, “we need to all work together, the member states, the UN system, civil society, private sector and all other stakeholders”.

Tokyo: Japan will send an envoy to Myanmar at the weekend to investigate the killing of a Japanese video journalist during anti-government protests, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said on Friday. — Reuters