Irrawaddy-Apr 23
Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing said his regime is considering “good things” for detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Thailand’s top diplomat said after a meeting with the former general on Wednesday. Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow met Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw, becoming the first senior envoy from a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to visit Min Aung Hlaing since the latter engineered his own rise to the presidency. In a video message recorded before he returned to Thailand, Sihasak said he raised the issue of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during the meeting, and Min Aung Hlaing told him that she is being “well taken care of” and that his government “is considering good things”. “Many ASEAN countries are worried about Aung San Suu Kyi and her well-being, and he said they are considering good things,” Sihasak said. Min Aung Hlaing has not offered further details, however. Regime newspapers and television outlets reported on the meeting but made no reference to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The regime leader’s remarks followed the launch of a “Proof of Life” campaign online calling for evidence that the detained State Counselor is alive and in good health, and amid renewed diplomatic calls for her release. The campaign urges supporters around the world to use social media channels to demand proof of her well-being and to call on their governments to press for verifiable evidence that she is still alive. Since her arrest by the military following the coup on February 1, 2021, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been denied contact with the outside world. Concerns about her condition have grown due to the lack of reliable information, her son Kim Aris said. The 80-year-old was given a 27-year prison sentence on multiple charges widely viewed as politically motivated. Her current place of detention remains undisclosed. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/politics/regime-considering-good-things-for-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-min-aung-hlaing-says.html
