Cambodian PM makes official visit
YANGON: Cambodia’s strongman ruler Hun Sen arrived in Myanmar yesterday for talks with the junta — the first foreign leader to visit since the generals seized power almost a year ago.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the Feb 1 coup which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government and ended the country’s decade-long dalliance with democracy.
More than 1,400 civilians have been killed as the military cracks down on dissent, according to a local monitoring group, and numerous anti-junta militias have sprung up around the country.
Hun Sen, whose country currently holds the rotating chair of the Asean, landed in the capital Nay Pyi Taw with 3 million facemasks and other medical equipment as a gift for the junta.
He has said he will use his meeting with military leader Min Aung Hlaing to press the “five point consensus” that Asean leaders agreed to last year as a means of defusing the Myanmar crisis.
Ahead of his trip, he called for a ceasefire, urging “all relevant parties” to stop the violence that has wracked the country for almost a year.
Rights groups and local anti-junta activists had urged Hun Sen to cancel the two-day trip, saying it legitimised the military regime.
But he called for patience, insisting the visit could have a positive impact.
International powers have piled diplomatic pressure on Myanmar’s military with even China being lukewarm in its support.
But repeated condemnations and even new rounds of sanctions have shown little sign of blowing the generals off their chosen course.
In the latest atrocity, more than 30 people were killed on Christmas Eve in a massacre blamed on the military.
Hun Sen’s visit comes as Asean seeks to help Myanmar out of the crisis.