Myanmar asks Suu Kyi to drop support for sanctions

Buddhist faithful gather at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangoon yesterday. Residents in Yangon welcomed the end of a curfew imposed on the eve of Myanmar's bloody crackdown on peaceful protests, but again voiced fears in private over the country's iron-fisted junta.Photo: AFP

Myanmar's junta yesterday demanded detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi drop her support for sanctions on the country, one of conditions set by the regime for talks with the opposition leader.
"As the government has made the official offer, it's your turn now," the official New Light of Myanmar daily said in a commentary.
"No dialogue can achieve success without sacrifices and concessions. Aunty Suu, you should understand the nature of giving up something for achieving another that is ten times (more) valuable and beneficial," it said.
Junta chief General Than Shwe has offered talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, but only if she gives up what he calls her support for "confrontation, utter devastation, economic sanctions on Myanmar and other sanctions."
Than Shwe's offer was seen as the regime's effort to defuse international pressure on Myanmar following its bloody suppression of peaceful protests, led by Buddhist monks, in late September.
At least 13 people were killed and about 3,000 jailed in the crackdown.
Than Shwe is known to despise the 62-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, but her opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has said Aung San Suu Kyi will consider the dialogue offer.
In the wake of the crackdown last month, the United States and the European Union tightened sanctions, and even Japan, one of Myanmar's major donors, cancelled aid as a Japanese video journalist was among the 13 dead.
On Friday, the United States slapped a new round of sanctions against Myanmar's military leaders. It is the second time in four weeks that Washington has increased sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
The United States has already imposed sanctions due to Myanmar's rights abuses, including the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest in Yangon.