Ban Ki-moon Forms 'Group of Friends' on Burma

With his special envoy on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, seen to be making little visible progress in negotiations with the Burmese military government, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday constituted a 14-member “Group of Friends” to assist him in achieving his goal of restoring democracy and protecting human rights in Burma in close consultation with both the military generals and pro-democracy leaders.

The first meeting of this 14-member “Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Myanmar [Burma]” was held behind closed doors at the UN in New York on Wednesday afternoon. The members were addressed by Ban himself and Gambari.

The group is comprised of the five permanent members of UN Security Council (the US, Britain, China, Russia and France); four Asean members (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam); the EU, represented by Portugal; three major regional players—India, Japan and Australia; and Norway.

Coming out of the conference, the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, told The Irrawaddy that the meeting was held in an informal setting with a view to helping Burma move in the right direction with regard to the goals that were presented in the October 11 statement of the Security Council president, including release of political prisoners and dialogue with the opposition. “We discussed how we can be helpful to the Secretary-General,” Khalilzad said.

Following the meeting, which lasted 90 minutes, Gambari said: “It was a good first meeting. There are many more to come.” The UN special envoy is expected to return to Burma next month.

The main purpose of such a group, according to the Secretary-General’s spokeswoman, Michele Montas, is to enhance the capacities of the special adviser and the Good Offices of the Secretary-General. “It was just an exchange of views. It was a closed meeting, so nothing can be said about the content of it. But, what we discussed essentially were the ways to support and better the Gambari mission,” she said.

The Secretary-General asked for the creation of this group to strengthen the offices of Gambari. Most of the countries around the table were those that have an impact on Burma in one way or another, Montas said.

The British ambassador to the UN, Sir John Sawers, like many other ambassadors who attended the meeting, said he would not expect  immediate results, but that this was a move in the right direction.

“There was a range of views expressed,” Sawers told The Irrawaddy. “Some of us were most concerned that the developments inside Burma have been disappointing by the lack of real results and there is a need to apply pressure and also offer some incentives for the leadership—the regime—in Burma to move forward and to pursue in a much more inclusive way the constitutional dialogue. Others, including some of the neighbors of Burma, advocated patience and encouragement instead of pressure.”

Terming it as a preliminary meeting, the Indian ambassador to the UN, Nirupam Sen, said everyone spoke broadly along the lines of their own national policies.

As such, the differences between the key countries on how to handle the Burma issue, or the way forward, continue to remain as they were within the Security Council. “Of course, things do not change [so quickly],” a senior EU diplomat said. “But now, we have a place to meet and a format to work together,” he added.

The Japanese ambassador to the UN, Yukio Takasu, who was seen actively participating in discussion and having consultations with ambassadors of the Security Council, said: “The Secretary-General thinks it is useful to have a group of friends. It is much more informal, much more free and it is not against Burma.”