The White House has called for restraint from everyone in Burma and said those who want to express themselves should be able to do so without reprisals from the military government.
At the daily White House press briefing on Monday, spokesperson Dana Perino said President George Bush and the first lady, Laura Bush, remain concerned about the reports of violence and intimidation that continue to come out of Burma.
Referring to the current visit of the Special UN Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, Perino said the US is pleased that he was allowed to meet the popular Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.
The spokesperson said Gambari should meet the top junta leader, Than Shwe. “We think it is important that they meet and that a process of national reconciliation can begin,” she said.
Perino said the US is committed to working with countries around the world and especially those in the region to move Burma to a peaceful transition to democracy.
“President Bush had a good meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang last week. And today Jim Jeffrey, the deputy National Security Advisor, will meet with the Chinese ambassador to the United States to further these discussions,” she said.
Taking note of the comments made by Chinese premier on Friday, the White House said: “China is very much concerned with the situation and hopes that all parties show restraint, resume stability through peaceful means as soon as possible, promotes domestic reconciliation and achieve democracy and development.”
The Chinese premier said that China will continue to work with the international community to actively facilitate the proper solution to the problem, she said.
At another daily briefing, State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said the US would wait for the return of the UN Special Envoy before it considers initiating another resolution in the Security Council.
Gambari said the US’s effort to push a resolution against Burma in the Security Council earlier this year did not materialize because permanent members China and Russia exercised their veto power to block the resolution, backed by the US and Britain.
Casey said the US would like to see effective international action take place. “And there's obviously a role for the Security Council in that,” he said.
He said the US has made several points clear to the Burmese government: it “wants these kinds of actions (the use of force) to stop,”; they should not be arresting demonstrators for simply expressing their views; they should not be raiding monasteries and Buddhist religious sites and arresting monks.
“We've, again, asked them to release any of those that they've held in detention, as well as those political leaders and others they've kept locked up or under house arrest in one form or another for many, many years,” he said.
At the daily White House press briefing on Monday, spokesperson Dana Perino said President George Bush and the first lady, Laura Bush, remain concerned about the reports of violence and intimidation that continue to come out of Burma.
Referring to the current visit of the Special UN Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, Perino said the US is pleased that he was allowed to meet the popular Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.
The spokesperson said Gambari should meet the top junta leader, Than Shwe. “We think it is important that they meet and that a process of national reconciliation can begin,” she said.
Perino said the US is committed to working with countries around the world and especially those in the region to move Burma to a peaceful transition to democracy.
“President Bush had a good meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang last week. And today Jim Jeffrey, the deputy National Security Advisor, will meet with the Chinese ambassador to the United States to further these discussions,” she said.
Taking note of the comments made by Chinese premier on Friday, the White House said: “China is very much concerned with the situation and hopes that all parties show restraint, resume stability through peaceful means as soon as possible, promotes domestic reconciliation and achieve democracy and development.”
The Chinese premier said that China will continue to work with the international community to actively facilitate the proper solution to the problem, she said.
At another daily briefing, State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said the US would wait for the return of the UN Special Envoy before it considers initiating another resolution in the Security Council.
Gambari said the US’s effort to push a resolution against Burma in the Security Council earlier this year did not materialize because permanent members China and Russia exercised their veto power to block the resolution, backed by the US and Britain.
Casey said the US would like to see effective international action take place. “And there's obviously a role for the Security Council in that,” he said.
He said the US has made several points clear to the Burmese government: it “wants these kinds of actions (the use of force) to stop,”; they should not be arresting demonstrators for simply expressing their views; they should not be raiding monasteries and Buddhist religious sites and arresting monks.
“We've, again, asked them to release any of those that they've held in detention, as well as those political leaders and others they've kept locked up or under house arrest in one form or another for many, many years,” he said.
