UNITED NATIONS: Myanmar’s President Thein Sein made an unprecedented tribute to opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s “efforts for democracy” and vowed to resolve ethnic strife in a landmark UN speech.
Thein Sein, the first Myanmar leader to speak to the UN General Assembly, also told the annual gathering on Thursday that he wants to “completely end” a long-running war with ethnic rebels in Kachin state.
Thein Sein, a former junta general now driving through speedy reforms in his impoverished state, spoke as Suu Kyi comes to the end of a triumphant tour of the United States which some feared could overshadow the president.
But he told world leaders: “This week she is also in New York. As a Myanmar citizen I would like to congratulate her for the honours she has received in this country in recognition of her efforts for democracy.”
Less than two years ago, his comments would have been unthinkable.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, spent 15 years under house arrest during the junta’s rule. She was freed in November 2010 and is now a member of parliament pressing for domestic change as well as the lifting of international sanctions. The United States eased its trade sanctions on Wednesday.
Highlighting recent elections, the release of political prisoners and the ending of media censorship, Thein Sein stressed the “mutual tolerance” and “magnanimity” that now marks politics in the country also known as Burma.
In Myanmar, the state-run New Light of Myanmar took the rare step of publishing an English-language version of Thein Sein’s speech in full, with praise of Suu Kyi featuring on the front page.
Suu Kyi met with US President Barack Obama and received the Congressional Gold Medal -- the highest honour of the US legislature -- during her 18-day tour of the United States.
AFP
