MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT UNION (MPU-BURMA)
MEDIA RELEASE

23 September 2003

MPU WELCOMES THE PLAN OF U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO VISIT BURMA FOR THE RELEASE OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI

The Members of Parliament Union (MPU) welcomes UN Special Envoy’s plan to visit Burma to seek the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and discuss reviving national reconciliation talks, which stalled after the May 30 incident in Upper Burma.

United Nations spokesman Fred Eckhard said that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced plans on Monday that his special envoy Razali Ismail will be in New York on Tuesday for consultations before travelling to Burma from September 30 to October 2. He also said that Mr. Annan, expects Razali to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, find out her condition and work with government officials toward her immediate and unconditional release.

Mr. Razali has visited Burma ten times over the past two years to broker talks on national reconciliation and a democratic transition in Burma. He last saw Aung San Suu Kyi in early June while she was held incommunicado at notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon. It is the third time Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained by the junta since 1989. She was placed under house arrest in 1989 for six years and in 2000 for nearly two years.

Detention of Aung San Suu Kyi has been the subject of international protests and sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union. U.N Secretary-General remains concerned about the well being of Aung San Suu Kyi (who had recently undergone a major operation at the private Asia Royal Hospital in Rangoon) and other NLD leaders and reiterates his call that they should be released without further delay. However, the junta continues to defy the mounting international pressure and ignore growing political, and economic and social crises in Burma.

"Since the junta has no real commitment to solve current serious crises and bring about political change, the idea of a dialogue taking place through a home-grown process is no longer valid in the present political context. So, effective international intervention is urgently needed to help Burma avert the impending confrontation and bloodshed”, said Daniel Aung, MPU Vice President.

“The MPU fully supports the active involvement of the United Nations in Burma’s national reconciliation process”, said Daniel Aung.

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For further information, please contact:

1. Mr. Maung Maung Latt (Secretary of MPU), Mobile: (+66) 1 733 3891 (Thailand)

2. Dr. Myint Cho (Director of MPU), Tel/Fax: (+61-2) 9646 1211 (Australia) or Mobile (+61) 402 135 767