Richardson bins Myanmar's claim

Veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson denied he was asked by Myanmar's government to step down from an international advisory board on the Rohingya crisis, his spokesman said yesterday.

A statement issued by the office of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi late on Thursday had accused Richardson of pursuing "his own agenda" and said that the government decided to ask him to quit as his continued participation on the board would not be in the best interests of all concerned.

"At no point was the Governor asked to step down, either in person or in writing by any member of the Government of Myanmar or the Chair of the Advisory Board," Richardson's spokesman Mickey Bergman told Reuters.

"Quite the opposite, their National Security Advisor stopped by the night before to convince the Governor to stay as planned."

Richardson said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that he was resigning from the board because it was conducting a "whitewash" and accused Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, of lacking "moral leadership".

The departure of Richardson, a former Clinton administration cabinet member, came as the 10-member advisory board was making its first visit to western Rakhine State, from where around 688,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled in recent months.

A US official said the issues raised by Richardson had reinforced concerns about Myanmar's handling of the Rohingya crisis. Still, the official said, US would likely stick to its ”measured” approach of applying limited pressure on Myanmar and avoiding more drastic measures that could destabilise the situation.