[ad_1]
Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen has met Myanmar’s navy ruler Min Aung Hlaing, amid criticism of the primary go to by a head of presidency because the military seized energy from an elected authorities final 12 months.
Hun Sen was greeted by an honour guard and purple carpet when he arrived on Friday, simply as protests by coup opponents broke out in different elements of the nation over fears his journey will present extra legitimacy to the ruling junta.
Myanmar state tv later confirmed pictures of the 2 leaders bumping elbows and sitting down for talks in gilded chairs.
Hun Sen’s two-day go to was the primary by a head of presidency because the military overthrew the civilian administration of Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February final 12 months, sparking months of protests and a bloody crackdown.
The Cambodian chief, who has been criticised over crackdowns on his political opponents at house, has stated he was making the go to to press a Myanmar peace plan sponsored by the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Cambodia is present chair of the 10-member Asean, which adopted a five-point “consensus” peace plan in April.
Another Asean international locations together with Indonesia have expressed frustration on the junta’s failure to implement the plan, together with permitting an envoy to satisfy Suu Kyi, who has been in detention because the coup.
In Myanmar, opponents of navy rule have stated Hun Sen, who seized energy in Phnom Penh in a 1997 coup, is backing the junta by making the journey.
In Depayin, about 300 km north of the capital, Naypyidaw, protesters burned a poster of the Cambodian prime minister and chanted “Hun Sen don’t come to Myanmar. We don’t need dictator Hun Sen”, pictures on social media confirmed.
There have been additionally experiences of protests within the second metropolis of Mandalay and the Tanintharyi and Monywa areas.
In a speech on Wednesday earlier than his journey, Hun Sen referred to as for restraint from all sides in Myanmar and for the peace plan to be adopted.
“Brothers in Myanmar, would you like your nation to fall into an actual civil conflict or need it solved?” he stated.
After a telephone name this week with Hun Sen, Indonesian president Joko Widodo stated in messages on Twitter if there was no important progress on the peace plan, then solely non-political representatives from Myanmar needs to be allowed at Asean conferences.
In October, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was barred from attending an Asean summit for his failure to stop hostilities, enable humanitarian entry and begin dialogue, as agreed with Asean.
However in an extra signal of divisions within the 10-member bloc, Hun Sen final month stated junta officers needs to be allowed to attend Asean conferences.
Min Ko Naing, a number one activist in Myanmar, stated in a social media put up that Hun Sen would face large protests over his go to, which might harm Asean.
Hun Sen is likely one of the world’s longest serving leaders and western international locations and human rights teams have lengthy condemned him for crackdowns on opponents, civil rights teams and the media in Cambodia.
Amnesty Worldwide’s deputy regional director for analysis Emerlynne Gil stated the journey risked sending combined messages to Myanmar’s navy chief and Hun Sen ought to as a substitute lead Asean to sturdy motion to deal with the nation’s “dire human rights state of affairs”.
US-funded Radio Free Asia cited a junta spokesperson as saying Hun Sen wouldn’t meet Suu Kyi, who has been detained because the coup and is on trial, facing nearly a dozen cases that carry a mixed most sentence of greater than 100 years in jail.
[ad_2]
Source link