Negotiate with Cease-fire Groups: Suu Kyi

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she wants the military regime to negotiatate with ethnic cease-fire groups for a better future in Burma, according to a spokesman who met with her on Saturday.

Nyan Win, who was a senior official in the disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD), met with Suu Kyi in her Rangoon home, where she is under house arrest, accompanied by lawyers Kyi Wynn and Khin Htay Kwe, on Saturday.

Nyan Win told The Irrawaddy that they also discussed the lawsuit against military junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the appeal of Suu Kyi's 18-month extension of her house arrest.

On March 23, three NLD leaders—Nyan Win, Tin Oo and Aung Shwe—attempted to file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to sue the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, for issuing "unjust and unfair" election laws.

But an official at the Supreme Court handed the documents back, responding that the court did not have the power to handle the case.

Responding to Suu Kyi comments about ethnic groups, Sai Sheng Murng, a deputy spokesman for the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), said that if the regime seeks to resolve the border guard issue dispute with violence, it will hurt the livlihood of local residents.

“If the regime is honest, it has to accept negotiations with all armed cease-fire groups,” he said, adding that the stand off is growing more tense.

The SSA-S has not received any offer for talks, according to a spokesman.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Karen National Union (KNU) General-Secretary Zipporah Sein said, “Without solving political problems, the potential conflicts will not go away.”

Suu Kyi was sentenced to an additional 18 months house arrest for violating the terms of her detention after US citizen John William Yettaw visited her lakeside home on May 3, 2009. At the time, she had already spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in detention. Her sentence is set to expire in November.

From Irrawaddy News