 |
|
UN envoy on a mission to end Myanmar crisis Yangon, September 29 “We are not very hopeful, but it’s the best shot we have,” Singapore’s foreign minister George Yeo said at the United Nations in New York. For ordinary Myanmar people, however, hope was slipping away rapidly with soldiers and the police seizing control of the streets, scattering the few demonstrators, who dared to venture out. Buddhist monks, who had spearheaded the movement during the past month, galvanising crowds of some 70,000 to denounce the military regime, have been sealed in their monasteries. Still, some 300 die-hard protesters, waving peacock-emblazoned flags of the democracy movement, marched through Yangon’s Chinatown, applauded by onlookers, witnesses said. Gambari arrived at the Yangon airport today and was briefed by UN officials, a UN statement said. He was proceeded to Naypitaw, the remote new bunker-like capital where the country’s military leaders are based. It was not immediately clear if Gambari would meet junta leader Gen Than Shwe during his brief visit, or pro-democracy figures like Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent nearly 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest. No internet link
Myanmar’s main internet link remained shutdown today as the country’s military regime tried to curb the flow of information on the junta’s bloody crackdown on protesters. “The internet has not been working since yesterday. My friend also tried to use the internet, but could not do so,” said a Yangon resident. She said internet cafes in Yangon remained closed. Over the past week, the net cafes drew tech-savvy citizens who transmitted pictures and video clips of the regime’s clampdown taken on mobile phones and digital cameras. As the government has cracked down on protesters, killing at least 13 persons and injuring more than 100, pressure on the media has soared. Sein Win, managing editor of Mizzima News, an India-based news group run by exiled dissidents, said he had received nothing via the internet since yesterday.
— AP, AFP
US visa ban on junta officials The State Department has banned dozens of officials of Myanmar's military junta from receiving U.S. visas because of the violent crackdown on Buddhist monks and pro-democracy activists in the Asian nation. A statement from the department's spokesman noted that President George W. Bush's administration “has designated more than three dozen additional government and military officials and their families as ineligible to receive visas to travel to the United States, and will add others who bear responsibility for the ongoing attacks on innocent civilians and other human rights abuses.” The department's action follows Bush's declaration to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week of expanded U.S. measures to address the crisis in Myanmar. On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury said it would freeze any U.S. assets belonging to 14 Myanmar government and military officials. These measures mark the latest tightening of a decade of U.S. sanctions on the country. Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Council announced it would hold a special meeting on October 2 to discuss the situation in Myanmar amid growing calls for the authorities in the Southeast Asian nation to exercise restraint in dealing with ongoing protests. The U.N. Children’s Fund said it was deeply concerned about the situation in the country, especially the effects of the violence on women and children.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
