VZCZCXYZ0012
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKT #1030 3200941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 160941Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1022
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3331
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7534
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2873
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 5575

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 001030 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INSB, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
 
STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV OPRC NP
SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: 'ERA OF ENGAGEMENT' WITH JUNTA 
 
¶1.  Summary: In an opinion piece in the government- 
owned "The Rising Nepal," with an estimated 5,000 
circulation, Nepal's senior journalist P. Kharel 
writes that the junta seems more flexible in Myanmar 
and that engagement by the international community 
could result in political reforms. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  Excerpts: "At long last, there is some movement in the 
junta-ruled Myanmar. Democracy movement leader Aung San 
Suu Kyi, in the recent weeks, has become quite active 
after Senior General Than Shwe asked her to negotiate with 
the West so that sanctions against the regime could be 
lifted. Subsequently, Myanmar Relations Minister Aung Kyi 
met with the opposition leader twice in the first week of 
October. Soon after, Suu Kyi had a rare meeting with 
British and Australian ambassadors to discuss the 
sanctions." 
 
¶3.  "... US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian 
and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot 
Marciel met with the Nobel Peace laureate last fortnight. 
The duo also held talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein in 
the administrative capital Naypyidaw in what Washington 
signaled as having set in motion its new policy of 
"engaging" the junta in meaningful talks for political 
reforms. US President Barack Obama seeks a new era of 
engagement with the military regime." 
 
¶4.  "The US team's meetings in Myanmar came in stark 
contrast to the fact that Myanmar's junta chief Than Shwe 
last summer refused permission to UN Secretary-General Ban 
Ki-moon to meet with Suu Kyi, who remained in prison 
facing trial over an incident in which an American man 
swam uninvited to her lakeside house in May 2009. US State 
Department spokesman Ian Kelly described the Campbell 
visit as "the second step in the beginning of a dialogue 
with Burma."  Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy 
spokesman Nyan Win also endorsed the trip as the "start of 
direct engagement between the US and Myanmar government" 
but hastened to add that the party did not expect any "big 
change" in the near future." 
 
¶5.  "...The recent move by the Obama's administration to 
engage the regime and convince it of the need for holding 
dialogue with the main opposition has raised hopes that 
something substantive might be in the offing. Elections 
are scheduled for next year and, without the participation 
of the NLD, the government the poll will toss up will 
hardly have any democratic legitimacy. Perhaps aware of 
the situation and the realization that even ASEAN members 
have begun intensifying pressure on the junta for reforms, 
the Than Shwe regime has hinted that Suu Kyi might be 
released from detention. Such a decision would raise the 
prospects of political reforms and civilian rule after 
nearly five decades. Suu Kyi might even be receptive to 
the junta's demand that the army have a role in any new 
political set-up." 
 
BERRY