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New York: The United States on Wednesday circulated a new and tougher draft statement to the UN Security Council scolding Myanmar for ignoring UN demands to free prisoners and deal fairly with the opposition.
Washington hopes the UN Security Council will unanimously agree to issue the non-binding statement soon so that Myanmar's military junta can reflect on its message before a key constitutional referendum scheduled for May 10.
A draft of the statement says it regrets slow progress by the junta in meeting previous council demands for political dialogue and release of political prisoners and calls for planned elections to be open to all candidates.
US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said that the statement was intended to send "a strong message to the regime but also to the people of Burma and to the world."
"The council cannot be silent, should not be silent in the face of what has happened and what has not happened," he said.
British Ambassador John Sawers also voiced his support for the new statement. "I think it's important that the council express itself before the referendum," he told reporters.
Tougher wording
Diplomats said the US prepared the draft in consultation with France and Britain. It was similar to an earlier version, although it included tougher language - telling Myanmar that it expects the council's demands to be met "on an urgent basis." This is stronger than the previous wording, which said the demands should be met "in a timely manner."
It said that if the May referendum and elections planned for 2010 were to be "inclusive and credible," the junta must "allow full participation of all political actors," including detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It called on the military to move quickly to a genuine dialogue with Suu Kyi.
The proposed new constitution would ban Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, from standing for election because she was once married to a foreigner. Her party, the main opposition in Myanmar, has urged its supporters to vote "no" in the poll.
Diplomats said the new draft on Myanmar would likely be acceptable to most members of the 15-nation council though it was unclear how China would react. They said there was a possibility that Washington could persuade Beijing to back the statement for a number of reasons, such as the fact that the junta has not complied with previous council demands and China's desire to lessen fallout from its recent crackdown in Tibet.
The council cannot be silent, should not be silent in the face of what has happened and what has not happened."
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