Japan cuts aid, West cranks up pressure on Myanmar

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan cut aid to Myanmar on Tuesday, a day after the European Union stiffened its sanctions and U.S. President George W. Bush threatened to follow suit in response to the junta’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Despite the flurry of sticks being waved at military-ruled Myanmar, however, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered a carrot — economic help for the impoverished southeast Asian nation if it began moves towards democracy.

Thailand proposed a regional forum, including China and India, to nudge the reclusive junta towards democratic reform, but Malaysia was lukewarm to the idea, saying it could divert attention away from the current U.N. mediation effort.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tokyo would halt 550 million yen ($4.7 million) in aid following last month’s suppression of Buddhist monk-led protests, in which at least 10 people were killed, including a Japanese video journalist.

“We need to show the Japanese government’s position. We cannot take action supporting the military government at this stage,” Komura told reporters, adding that Japan’s health programme aid for Myanmar would nevertheless continue.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, said it was seeking access to thousands of people detained during the recent crackdown, though authorities had not yet agreed to talks.

“The ICRC is deeply worried about the fate of thousands of people who have reportedly been arrested in connection with recent events in Myanmar,” Pierre Kraehenbuehl, the ICRC’s director of operations, said in a statement in Geneva.

On Monday EU foreign ministers agreed to strengthen sanctions against Myanmar’s rulers and warned they could go with a ban on all new investment in the resource-rich country.

The 27-nation bloc will now target Myanmar’s key timber, metals and gemstone sectors in addition to sanctions that include visa bans and asset freezes on its generals, government officials and their relatives.

The EU says its economic leverage is limited, though it has so far steered clear of its energy sector, in which French oil giant Total is a big investor.

INCENTIVES

In the United States, Bush said “enormous international pressure” was needed to make it clear to the former Burma’s generals that they would be completely isolated if they did not bring freedom and democracy to the country.

He threatened fresh sanctions on Myanmar and suggested impatience with the international response to its crackdown.

“Sometimes international bodies are non-consequential. That is, they’re good talking but there’s not a consequence. At some point there has to be consequences,” Bush told an audience in Rogers, Arkansas.

Washington imposed new sanctions last month, toughening measures that had been in place for years but had forced little change, and has been pressing for stronger U.N. action.

But, taking an incentives approach, Britain’s Brown said on Monday he would be writing to world leaders to canvass support for a package of economic support measures for Myanmar.

In Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont proposed a U.N.-backed regional forum on Myanmar, bringing together Southeast Asia plus India and China, the two countries with perhaps the greatest potential influence on the junta.

But such a process might complicate matters, said Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid, who met U.N special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in Kuala Lumpur on the second stop of a regional tour to drum up support for a coordinated diplomatic front.

“If there is any other talk about other mechanisms to be used I think it may complicate the current momentum that has been achieved,” Syed Hamid told reporters in the Malaysian capital.

“I think Gambari has gone this far and I think under very difficult circumstances. We need to continue his work,” he said, adding, “We want to see a quick re-entry of Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar.”

Gambari is slated to return to Myanmar in November, but he said earlier on he hoped his Asia tour would demonstrate such a united regional front that he might be granted a visa sooner.