By AFP
US diplomat Bill Richardson resigned early Thursday from
an Aung San Suu Kyi-appointed panel set up to ease communal tensions in
Myanmar's Rakhine State and hit out at the Nobel Laureate for an "absence
of moral leadership" over the crisis.
In a statement that pulled few punches, the former
governor and one-time Suu Kyi ally said he could not in "good
conscience" serve on the committee.
Richardson also accused Suu Kyi of a "furious
response" to his calls to help free two Reuters journalists arrested while
reporting on the Rakhine crisis.
Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were arrested in
December and face up to 14 years in jail under the Official Secrets Act over
the alleged possession of classified documents, purportedly relating to the
army campaign in Rakhine.
His resignation came after Myanmar and Bangladesh failed
to meet a January 23 deadline to begin the complex and contested repatriation
of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees.
Full Statement of US Diplomat Bill Richardson |
The UN and US have both accused the army and hardline
militant Buddhist mobs of ethnic cleansing against the Muslim minority.
Inside Myanmar the Rohingya are widely regarded as
illegal immigrants from Bangladesh even though many have lived there for
generations.
"It is with great disappointment that I announce my
resignation from the Advisory Board on Rakhine State," a statement
released by Bill Richardson's office said after three days of talks in Myanmar.
"It appears that the Board is likely to become a
cheerleading squad for government policy as opposed to proposing genuine policy
changes that are desperately needed to assure peace, stability, and development
in Rakhine State."
He said he was "taken aback" by the
disparagement of the media, the UN, human rights groups and the international
community and alarmed by the "lack of sincerity" with which the issue
of Rohingya citizenship was discussed.
Rohingya have been denied citizenship for decades in a
discriminatory system that heavily restricts their rights and movement within
Myanmar.
The US former governor admitted that the military still
wields significant power but added that "the absence of Daw Suu's moral
leadership on this critical issue is of great concern".