News Briefs (October 2007)

Cambodia Urges Asean to Play a Bigger Role on Burma

Cambodia's prime minister called Wednesday for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to play a bigger role in finding a democratic solution to the crisis in Burma and urged the junta there to refrain from further violence. Hun Sen said the involvement of Burma's revered Buddhist monks in recent pro-democracy protests showed that problems in the country had reached a new level of seriousness. Hun Sen told reporters that the bloc should form a "troika" that can "assist in finding a solution to the problems in Myanmar [Burma]." Such a troika, Hun Sen said, should be led by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose country is currently the rotating chair of Asean, and joined by the previous and future leaders of the bloc—meaning Malaysia and Thailand. (AP)

UN Chief Laments Rising Intolerance on First International Day of Nonviolence

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the first International Day of Nonviolence on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday on Tuesday lamenting rising intolerance and pleading for the world to embrace the Indian leader’s ideals of peace and human dignity. In a veiled reference to the crackdown on peaceful demonstrators by Burma's military rulers, Ban said "we have witnessed lethal force being used against unarmed and nonviolent marchers who exemplified the very spirit of the Mahatma's teachings."

Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian statesman and reformer, born on October 2, 1869, led peaceful struggles against unjust regimes in South Africa and India from the early 1900s until his assassination in 1948, soon after India's independence. The secretary-general spoke at a UN General Assembly commemoration, along with Sonia Gandhi, India's Congress Party leader, and South Africa's Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. (AP)

Thailand's Army Chief Enters Politics as a Deputy PM

The army chief who led last year's coup in Thailand began a career in politics Tuesday, becoming one of three deputy prime ministers. The move follows Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin's retirement as Thailand's army commander Sunday, an expected departure upon his 61st birthday, which fell Tuesday. Sonthi moved to further break ties with the military by resigning Monday as the head of the Council for National Security, comprised of the generals who led the coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006. The council shares power with Thailand's interim civilian government.

Sonthi's appointment as a deputy prime minister in the interim government was endorsed Tuesday by royal decree, as is customary. Critics charge that any involvement by Sonthi in politics would show the military's desire to prolong its grip on power, which could spark another political crisis. Sonthi appointed Chalit Pukphasuk as the new head of the Council for National Security. Chalit was one of Sonthi's deputies in the council and is the current air force chief. (AP)