Senior U.S. diplomat rebukes Suu Kyi for lacking ‘moral leadership.’

TAIPEI • A U.S. diplomat rebuked Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar leader, for lacking “moral leadership” as he resigned from an international panel set up by Burma to advise on the Rohingya crisis, accusing it of a “whitewash.”

Bill Richardson, a former governor of New Mexico, quit the 10-member advisory board while it was making its first visit to western Rakhine State, from where close to 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled amid accusations of ethnic cleansing.

“The main reason I am resigning is that this advisory board is a whitewash,” he told Reuters.

In a damning statement, Richardson reiterated the panel was likely to become a “cheerleading squad” for Myanmar government policy rather than bring about the changes needed for peace.

He also revealed he was “extremely upset” at Suu Kyi’s “furious response” to his request that she address the arrest of two Reuters journalists swiftly and fairly. Richardson is a longtime friend of Suu Kyi and has known her since the 1980s.

In later comments to the New York Times, he said she “exploded” over the issue.

“Her face (was) quivering, and if she had been a little closer to me, she might have hit me,” he said.

Reporters Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, are on trial on charges of breaching the country’s Official Secrets Act for investigating reports of a Rohingya mass grave.

“Freedom of the press to report the facts is a fundamental bedrock of democracy,” wrote Richardson, revealing a meeting with the minister of home affairs about the journalists was abruptly cancelled after his argument with Suu Kyi.

Richardson added he was taken aback during meetings of the panel by the disparaging of the media, United Nations, human rights groups and the international community over the Rohingya crisis, and could not carry out his role “in good conscience.”

“While it is important to recognize that the military still wields significant power and that they are primarily to blame for the recent exodus of refugees in the wake of ARSA (Rohingya militant) attacks, the absence of Daw Suu’s moral leadership on this critical issue is of great concern,” he said, referring to Suu Kyi with an alternative title.

He also criticized Surakiart Sathirathai, the board chairman and a former Thai deputy prime minister, for not being “genuinely committed” to Rohingya safety and stability, and for parroting the “dangerous and untrue” notion that aid workers were assisting militants.

A Myanmar government spokesman said Richardson “should review himself over his personal attack against our state counsellor,” referring to Suu Kyi’s official title.