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In London, Lord Levene Continues in Myanmar with
Lloyds and Total, UN Stands Pat
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press in the UK: News Analysis
LONDON, November
14 -- While at the UN in New York,
UK Ambassador John Sawers thunders about human rights abuses in
Myanmar, which
he calls Burma, here in London the business insider Lord Peter Levene
continues
as chairman of Lloyd's and board member of Total to do lucrative
business with
Than Shwe's military government.
Total's gas
and oil activities in Myanmar
provide an estimated $1 billion a year to the regime. Lloyd's reinsures
Than
Shwe's aviation and nautical assets, the latter most recently deployed
in
further of Myanmar's off-shore energy interests. Thus Levene's two
roles, in
natural resources and insurance, work seamlessly together, and the odd
face-saving letter from the UK Foreign Office does not bring about any
change.
UK's Lord Levene, oppression in Myanmar not
shown
Earlier in
the week in New York, Inner
City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesperson
Marie Okabe
Inner City Press: Given the
announcements of these 65-year prison sentences and crackdown on people
in
Myanmar that organized the demonstrations … given that Ban Ki-moon has
said
this issue is so important -- what does the UN have to say or is going
to do
about that?
Deputy Spokesperson Okabe: I
don’t have an official statement on the
reports that you are mentioning, but, as you know, the
Secretary-General has
repeatedly called for the Myanmar authorities to release all political
prisoners and allow all citizens of Myanmar to participate freely in
their
country’s political process, as part of a process of national
reconciliation.
Inner City Press: Does this mean
that Mr. Gambari is still going to go there?
What’s the … Has anyone in the UN communicated to
the junta that this is
a step backwards?
Deputy Spokesperson Okabe: As
I said, I don’t have an official reaction
to the press reports that you mentioned.
The Secretary-General’s position on the issue of
Myanmar remains the
same, as you know.
And that UN
remaining the same, as the arrests and length prison terms pile up, may
be one
of the problems. The U.S., too -- back on September 10, Inner City
Press asked
U.S. official Daniel Glaser about insurers doing business in Myanmar,
click
here
for that.
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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