Suu Kyi Attends Martyrs' Day Ceremony

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By KO HTWE Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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Aung San Suu Kyi walks to offer flowers at her father's tomb at the Martyrs Mausoleum. (Photo: AP)

For the first time in nine years, Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi attended an official ceremony for Martyrs' Day, a national holiday in Burma that commemorates the assassination in 1947 of her father Gen Aung San and eight colleagues from the country's independence movement.
Government officials sent an invitation to Suu Kyi last week, and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate agreed to attend the ceremony at Rangoon Martyrs' Mausoleum on Tuesday morning.

Burmese Diplomat Defects, Cites Fears for Safety

Kate Pound Dawson | Washington

For the second time in less than two weeks, a senior Burmese diplomat has defected.  He says he feared for his safety after being recalled to Burma.

Soe Aung, the Burmese embassy’s first secretary in Washington, sent a letter to the U.S. State Department on Wednesday declaring that he wanted to defect. He later told VOA’s Burmese Service that he fears for his safety and that of his family.

Second Burmese Defector Was Summoned Home, Says Kyaw Win

Thar Nyunt Oo | Washington, D.C.

Photo: VOA - Khin Soe Win

A recent photo of Kyaw Win, the second-ranking official at the Burmese embassy in Washington, D.C.

Burmese diplomat seeks asylum in U.S.

The second-ranking diplomat at the Burmese Embassy in Washington has decided to defect and is seeking asylum in the United States.
Deputy Chief of Mission Kyaw Win, 59, confirmed Monday that he is leaving his post to protest what he says are his government’s human rights violations and sham elections, and because he is afraid for his and his family’s lives.

Kyaw Win, who declined a phone interview, sent a letter Monday to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in which he laid out his reasons for defecting, talked about his experiences as one of Burma’s top diplomats and sided with international human rights groups who have accused Burmese military leaders for years of abusing their countrymen. The letter was obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed as authentic by Kyaw Win.

Suu Kyi Condemns Burma's 'Tradition' of Violence

Suu Kyi Condemns Burma's 'Tradition' of Violence

Shwe Mann Heads to Moscow

Shwe Mann Heads to Moscow

US Urges Burma to Stop Violence in Kachin State

US Urges Burma to Stop Violence in Kachin State