Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar after a surprise meeting with the military leaders of the violence-plagued Southeast Asian nation.
Ban met Monday in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw with the leader of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and other top officials. His mission was made on behalf of a group of elder statesmen that engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives around the world.
Ban is deputy chair of the group, which calls itself The Elders.
A statement released Tuesday by the group quoted Ban as saying his meetings were “exploratory.”
It said Ban, who flew to Bangkok from Naypyitaw Monday night at the invitation of the Myanmar military, stressed in his talks the need to implement a peace plan by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations to stop the violence between the military and the pro-democracy resistance forces following the army's 2021 ouster of the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The statement said that in his talks Ban “supported the international community’s calls for the immediate release by the Myanmar military of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, for constructive dialogue, and for utmost restraint from all parties.”
The Elder’s statement said Ban also “warned that elections in Myanmar must only be held when conditions are in place for them to be free and fair.” He said that “holding elections under current conditions risks further violence and division, and the results not being recognized by the people of Myanmar, ASEAN and the wider international community.”
