On
Myanmar,
France
Cautiously
Welcomes, UK
Worries of
Kachin &
Shan, Nambiar
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 27
-- When Ban
Ki-moon's
Group of
Friends on
Myanmar met
Tuesday
afternoon
things were
different.
Despite an
upsurge in
government
attacks and
displacement
in East and
Northern
Burma, the
mood was
congratulations,
for freeing
Aun Sang Suu
Kyi and
holding
elections how
ever flawed.
On
the way into
the
meeting, Ban's
chief of staff
Vijay Nambiar
could not find
his way,
even to the
bathroom,
requiring
directions
from an
Associate
Spokesperson.
Afterward even
the UK's Mark
Lyall Grant
said he hadn't
raise the
issue of
replacing
Nambiar, since
Ban said he
would send
him back to
the country.
But
Nambiar never
speaks to the
press or
answers
questions. He
is a Myanmar
unto
himself,
perhaps
perfect for
the job if the
job is cover
up.
When
the meeting
was over, or
actually
before, French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
left the
room, intent
on presenting
about Iran up
at the French
consulate. He
told a
reporter, as
told to Inner
City Press
with direct
concern,
that France
cautiously
welcomes the
changes in
Myanmar. But
what does
that mean?
Araud, his
political
coordinator
&
Gaddafi's
Treki, Myanmar
not shown
UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant, who
left later,
was more
direct,
saying that
the UK is
concerned
about violence
in the ethnic
areas of
the Kachin and
Shan, and want
the NLD
political
party to be
able to
register.
Inner
City Press
asked Lyall
Grant if he'd
raised his
previous
point, about
the need
to replace
Nambiar. Not
this time,
Lyall Grant
indicated,
saying that
since Ban had
said he'd be
sending
Nambiar back
to Myanmar and
soon,
he had held
his tongue.
And so it goes
at the UN.
, 
