Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Image via the Guardian.
[This post has been updated as of 5:50 p.m. PST on 8.7.09.]
Here’s today’s Burma-related news:
The Associated Press speculates that the hospitalization of John Yettaw, the American whose swim to her home caused the currently military trial of Nobel Peace laureate and Prime Minister-elect Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, could further delay the verdict in her trial (as well as his own).
The AP also reports that Yettaw has had more seizures since his hospitalization.
The AP also reports that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “won support Wednesday from key nations for his appeal to Burma’s government to free detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and release all political prisoners — and he said he expects a positive response from the country’s military rulers.” The comments followed a closed-door meeting of the “Group of Friends on Myanmar,” which is made up of about 15 countries, including other Southeast Asian nations, “interested Asian and European nations,” and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members (the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France).
Reuters reports that U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) will visit Burma later this month, making him “the first member of Congress to travel to the southeast Asian country in more than a decade.”
Time Magazine considers putting the generals on trial.
Reuters also reports that the U.N. is sending a team to Burma to “press for action by the government and rebel groups to end the practice of using child soldiers.”
In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Sean Turnell argues that the the ruling military junta, and not “a lack of resources,” is to blame for the extreme poverty of Burma’s people.
The Irrawaddy reports that “sixty-five international women’s groups called on the UN Security Council on Friday to initiate action to bring Burma’s junta leaders before the International Criminal Court.”
The Irrawaddy also reports that “Goh Chok Tong, Singapore’s former prime minister and current senior minister, said on Thursday that Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is ‘part of the problem’ facing the military-ruled country.”
In an exclusive, The Irrawaddy reports that “the 400,000-strong Burmese army is now almost fully armed with locally manufactured MA-series weapons, according to several sources within the armed forces and rebel groups.”
Irrawaddy contributor Htet Aung responds to The Economist‘s critique of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Reuters reports that the junta says “15 dissidents [have] been arrested over a plot to carry out bombings during U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to the country last month.”
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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Image via the Guardian.
