UN envoy tells Myanmar to halt arrests at once

BANGKOK (AFP) - UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Monday demanded that Myanmar's ruling junta immediately stop arresting pro-democracy activists and targeting dissidents, calling the crackdown "extremely disturbing."

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EU foreign ministers were due to meet later Monday in Luxembourg to discuss tougher sanctions against the regime, including import bans that would target Myanmar's trade in teak and gems.

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ASEAN chief Ong Keng Yong said in Singapore that the best outcome would be to thrash out a consensus between the military and Aung San Suu Kyi, warning that sudden regime change would have dire regional implications.

"It's an Iraqi situation because there are at least 17 different major factions making up the population of Myanmar," he said.

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Arms easy to buy for Myanmar junta

BANGKOK, Thailand - Military-ruled Myanmar is a pariah state to many because of its dismal human rights record, slapped with an arms embargo by the U.S. and European Union. But to some of the world's other top weapons dealers, Myanmar is just another customer.

India, the world's most populous democracy, and North Korea, Asia's most repressive dictatorship, are both suppliers to Myanmar's military, and neither has signaled it would stop business after the junta's crackdown on pro-democracy protests last month.

As is the case with the biggest suppliers to Myanmar — Russia, China and Ukraine — such arms sales may be widely criticized for helping the regime stay in power, but they don't clearly violate any laws, treaties or international agreements.

"Together these countries can supply anything Burma could possibly want, and they have more or less done so in the last 15 years," said Siemon Wezeman, a researcher for the Arms Transfers Project of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI.

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