US military officials arrive in Myanmar
A
delegation of three dozen US military and civilian officials began
arriving in Myanmar at the weekend, in Washington’s most comprehensive
push yet to engage with Myanmar’s military and government.
The US
trip highlights a growing debate, in Europe and in other western
countries, over greater engagement with the military, which has ruled
the country with an iron fist for decades and been subject to western
sanctions.The US maintained military attachés in Myanmar – even in the
years when it imposed sanctions. However, the participation of senior US
military officers such as Lt Gen Francis Wiercinski, head of the US
Army’s Pacific command, in this week’s visit reflects the growing view
in Washington that the support of Myanmar’s military is essential to any
lasting reforms, or peace agreements with ethnic minorities.
In a recent report, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and
International Studies warned that the US should start bilateral
programmes of training and exchange visits as a precursor to normalising
military relations.
This week’s visit follows successful trips to
the US last month of President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi, the
Nobel laureate and opposition leader who has backed the idea of US
engagement with the military.
Myanmar’s government has forged
ceasefire agreements with 10 of 11 main ethnic rebel groups. However,
fighting continues in northern Kachin state, and military offensives and
local people being displaced have been reported.
Even as the
government struggles to engage Kachin commanders in peace talks,
tensions within other large ethnic groups, particularly the Karen
National Union on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, have raised
concerns about the fragility of agreements signed in the past eight
months.
“This visit makes perfect sense,” said Thant Myint U, who is
involved in the government’s peace efforts. “It would be
counter-productive for the peace process to proceed without involving
Myanmar’s military.”
The US delegation visiting Myanmar this week
also includes William Burns, deputy secretary of state, Vikram Singh,
deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, Derek Mitchell, US
ambassador to Myanmar, and other senior officials from the State
department, National Security Council, Homeland Security department, and
USAid. They are due to meet Thein Sein, Min Aung Hlaing, commander of
the military, and other senior officials.
Outside of the government,
the US group will meet leaders of ethnic groups. These groups will
include Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists from the western coastal
state of Rakhine (formerly Arakan), where sectarian violence broke out
in June. They will also meet with trade unions and religious groups, as
well as members of Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and
Generation 88, a group of former political prisoners.
Myanmar’s
ruling United Solidarity and Development Party opened a three-day
national meeting over the weekend to elect officials and appoint a
chairman to replace Thein Sein, who vacated the role when he won the
presidency early last year. The party will also discuss strategy for the
2015 presidential election.
The general-secretary, U Htay Oo, told
The Myanmar Times, an independent English-language newspaper, that the
USDP would greatly expand its two main leadership committees and make
other moves to “improve organisation”.
The weekly newspaper cited
senior party sources as saying that the speaker of the lower house,
Thura Shwe Mann, would be chosen as leader. The party will choose more
than 200 executive committee members at the gathering, 35 of whom will
be appointed to the central executive committee.
The USDP has been
beset by tensions since losing by-elections on April 1 to Ms Suu Kyi’s
party, which won 43 of 45 parliamentary seats.
By - Gwen Robinson in Bangkok
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