Military admit detaining 1,400 (Burma)

[applegrove]

Military admit detaining 1,400

Burmese generals break silence, offer talks with pro-democracy leader . . . but only on their terms

Oct 05, 2007 04:30 AM
Thomas Fuller
New York Times

BANGKOK–Burma's military junta broke its silence last night about the brutal crackdown on protesters, making a heavily qualified offer to meet with the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and acknowledging that more than 1,400 people are still being detained.

The junta offered to hold talks with Suu Kyi but only if she abandoned her attitude of "confrontation" and repealed her call for foreign sanctions on the country. The announcement was made on radio and television newscasts, which are monitored by wire services.

State media said that during a meeting in Burma earlier this week, Gen. Than Shwe, the leader of the junta, told Ibrahim Gambari, the United Nations envoy, that Suu Kyi "has called for confrontation, utter devastation, economic sanctions and all other sanctions."

If she "announces publicly she has given up these four things, he would hold direct talks" with her, Than Shwe told Gambari, according to Burmese media.

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http://www.thestar.com/article/263878