Myanmar’s leader to skip U.N. meeting

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — With Myanmar drawing condemnation for violence that has driven at least 370,000 Rohingya to flee the country, the government said Wednesday its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will skip this month’s U.N. General Assembly meetings.

Suu Kyi will miss the assembly’s ministerial session, which opens Sept. 19 and runs through Sept. 25, in order to address domestic security issues, according to presidential office spokesman Zaw Htay.

The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, was scheduled to hold closed-door consultations later Wednesday on the Myanmar crisis.

Suu Kyi’s appearance at last year’s General Assembly was a landmark: her first since her party won elections in 2015 and replaced a military-dominated government. Even then, however, she faced criticism over Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims, whose name she did not utter. Members of the ethnic group are commonly referred to as “Bengalis” by many in Buddhistmajority Myanmar who insist they migrated illegally from Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi is not Myanmar’s president — her official titles are state counselor and foreign minister — but she effectively serves as leader of the Southeast Asian nation.

Zaw Htay said that, with President Htin Kyaw hospitalized, second Vice President Henry Van Tio would attend the U.N. meeting.

“The first reason (Suu Kyi cannot attend) is because of the Rakhine terrorist attacks,” Zaw Htay said. “The state counselor is focusing to calm the situation in Rakhine state. There are circumstances. The second reason is, there are people inciting riots in some areas. We are trying to take care of the security issue in many other places. The third is that we are hearing that there will be terrorist attacks and we are trying to address this issue.”