SINGAPORE/MYANMAR: Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd meets Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, says she intends to go on a tour outside the city despite of government warnings

Record ID: 559550

  • Title: SINGAPORE/MYANMAR: Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd meets Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, says she intends to go on a tour outside the city despite of government warnings
  • Date: 3rd July 2011
  • Summary: SINGAPORE (JULY 2, 2011) (REUTERS) AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER KEVIN RUDD WALKING IN FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, KEVIN RUDD, SAYING: "Aung San Suu Kyi is in very good spirits. She is in very robust mind. She is a very determined person. She is a person of enormous will, determination and I would say, just plain political guts." RUDD TAKING QUESTION DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, KEVIN RUDD, SAYING: "She has made plain that she intends to campaign elsewhere within Burma within the period ahead. That, of course is her democratic right. What I would say very clearly to the Burmese authorities -- Burmese government, it is absolutely critical that the Burmese government guarantee Aung San Suu Kyi security while such a tour of the country is undertaken. And I believe all the governments around the world would be looking very carefully at how her security is provided for by the government when she undertakes that tour." RUDD TAKING QUESTION DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, KEVIN RUDD, SAYING: "I think its clear that she is resolved to a tour in the country and that is what she intends to do. On the details of those arrangements, that's the matter of NLD (National League for Democracy) to announce at the appropriate time in Rangoon." RUDD TAKING QUESTION DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, KEVIN RUDD, SAYING: "I made it clear in my discussions with the President of Burma that the next and necessary step must be the release of 2,000 political prisoners. These prisoners remain as prisoners of conscience within Burma and the international community awaits action by the Burmese on ensuring that these people obtain freedom." RUDD STANDING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, KEVIN RUDD, SAYING: "The letter that the government, through the home affairs minister sent to Aung San Suu Kyi just several days ago, was a disturbing development. But the response which, she has delivered to the government, opens the possibility of a dialogue with the government on these questions. And we would urge the government to undertake that dialogue." JOURNALISTS WRITING TAKING PHOTOS RUDD LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM
  • Embargoed: 18th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Myanmar, Singapore
  • City:
  • Country: Singapore
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4YYU1FY0SK19KEUQZ5T9KZJOA
  • Story Text: Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd met Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on Saturday (July 2) and said she intended to go on a tour outside the city despite government warnings.
    He was flying back after a visit to Myanmar, where he met Suu Kyi over lunch at the Australian Embassy in Yangon.
    "Aung San Suu Kyi is in very good spirits. She is in very robust mind. She is a very determined person. She is a person of enormous will, determination and I would say, just plain political guts," Rudd told reporters in Singapore.
    "She has made plain that she intends to campaign elsewhere within Burma within the period ahead. That, of course is her democratic right. What I would say very clearly to the Burmese authorities -- Burmese government, it is absolutely critical that the Burmese government guarantee Aung San Suu Kyi security while such a tour of the country is undertaken. And I believe all the governments around the world would be looking very carefully at how her security is provided for by the government when she undertakes that tour," Rudd Added.
    The FM did not give specifics on Suu Kyi tour.
    "I think its clear that she is resolved to a tour in the country and that is what she intends to do. On the details of those arrangements, that's the matter of NLD (National League for Democracy) to announce at the appropriate time in Rangoon."
    During the Nobel laureate's last tour in 2003, thugs believed to be hired by the then ruling military junta, ambushed her motorcade.
    More than 70 of her supporters were killed in the incident, which became known as the "Depayin Massacre".
    It was widely seen as an assassination attempt on Suu Kyi, who was put back under house arrest, or what the regime called "protective custody".
    Rudd said Australia was also demanding the release of an estimated 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar.
    "I made it clear in my discussions with the President of Burma that the next and necessary step must be the release of 2,000 political prisoners. These prisoners remain as prisoners of conscience within Burma and the international community awaits action by the Burmese on ensuring that these people obtain freedom."
    Rudd added that Suu Kyi, 66-years-old, was in good spirits despite a letter she received from the minister of home affairs warning her about possible riots if her tour were to go on.
    "The letter that the government, through the home affairs minister sent to Aung San Suu Kyi just several days ago, was a disturbing development. But the response which, she has delivered to the government, opens the possibility of a dialogue with the government on these questions. And we would urge the government to undertake that dialogue."
    Myanmar's government insisted there were no political prisoners in its jails, but rights groups said hundreds of jailed politicians, students and activists were convicted on trumped-up charges to justify their incarceration.
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