UN chief to hold talks with Myanmar government in Yangon (Roundup)

May 19, 2008, 17:08 GMT

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to hold talks with Myanmar's military government on Wednesday in Yangon and will co-chair with ASEAN the pledging conference by the international community also to be held in that city next weekend, the United Nations announced Monday.

Ban, who has been unusually outspoken over the last week about Myanmar's refusal to allow outside help in, was to leave New York Tuesday and arrive in Yangon on Wednesday for meeting with Myanmar's senior government officials, spokesperson Michelle Montas said.

'The secretary general was invited to come,' Montas said, adding that the invitation was forwarded to Ban by Myanmar's UN ambassador.

Following the talks in Yangon, Ban will be in Bangkok for discussion with Thai officials on the Myanmar situation and then return to Yangon on Sunday for the UN-ASEAN conference, which was designed to scale up relief activities that have been so far restricted by the military junta in Myanmar.

The UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have urged governments to send ministers to the meeting in Yangon, hoping that their presence would increase pressure on Myanmar to open its doors to international relief aid and workers.

The junta had let the top UN emergency humanitarian coordinator, John Holmes, visit the delta on Monday for the first time while it still refused to allow more international relief workers into the country.

The unusual move by the two organizations was announced following the meeting in Singapore this past weekend by ASEAN in Singapore.

The UN said in New York that UN-ASEAN pledging conference on May 25 will be in 'recognition of the outpouring of international solidarity and support for alleviating the devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis on Myanmar, and the widespread suffering caused to its people.'

'The conference will focus on the needs of those affected by the cyclone, and seek international support and financial assistance for the international humanitarian response to meet the most urgent challenges, as well as longer term recovery efforts,' the UN said.

Both the UN and ASEAN urged the international community 'to rise to the occasion and translate their solidarity and sympathy into concrete commitments to help the people of Myanmar emerge from the tragedy and rebuild their lives.'

At the weekend's ASEAN conference in Singapore, Myanmar's foreign minister informed that Cyclone Nargis caused over 10 billion US dollars in damage to the empoverished nation ruled by the military for more than four decades.

Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo said at a news conference in Singapore that Myanmar's needs are 'enormous,' both for the immediate relief and rescue and the full recovery for the country's economy.

'They have many needs, not only for food and clean water, but many homes have been lost,' Yeo said. He cited those needs range from galvanized iron sheets for shelter to new schools and infrastructure.

Yeo said the 10-member ASEAN countries will be represented by foreign ministers at the UN-ASEAN meeting in Yangon. He urged other governments outside of ASEAN to send high-ranking officials if their foreign ministers cannot attend.