Former premier cites unity as Myanmar's top challenge

Jan 22, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Yangon - Achieving national unity among its ethnically diverse populace poses Myanmar's biggest challenge, former military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt said in an interview published Sunday.

'The biggest challenge for our country is national unity, which can be seen only after peace is built among all the nationalities equally,' Khin Nyunt told the Myanmar Times.

Khin Nyunt was released from seven years of house arrest January 13 as part of an amnesty fir 651 prisoners. He had played a key role in ceasefire agreements with a dozen ethnic minority insurgencies during his tenure as intelligence chief in the 1990s.

'I started the peace-building process with those armed groups,' ge recalled. He complimented President Thein Sein's recent efforts to restart the peace process with several insurgencies.

Western democracies have called on the president to cease all hostilities against ethnic minorities as a condition for normalizing ties and dropping sanctions on the once-pariah state.

'Only if all the ethnic armed groups and other nationalities are united will the union be powerful,' Khin Nyunt said. 'I am ready to give advice on that issue too.'

The nominally civilian government came to power after the November 7, 2010 general election. Myanmar was ruled by a junta between 1988-2010.

Khin Nyunt was prime minister when he fell out of favour in October 2004, and was arrested on corruption charges.

He was among some 302 political prisoners released this month by Thein Sein, who has followed a reformist agenda since taking office in March.

'I was quite astonished when I was freed,' Khin Nyunt told the Myanmar Times.

Many of his former subordinates remain in jail.

'Only when they are freed will I be completely happy,' he said.