US embassy cable - 04RANGOON438

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000438 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, BM, ID 
SUBJECT: BURMA: INDONESIAN AMBASSADOR PREVIEWS ALATAS VISIT 
 
REF: A. JAKARTA 599 
 
     B. BANGKOK 2217 
     C. RANGOON 1215 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  Indonesian Ambassador to Burma, Wyoso 
Prodjowarsito, revealed on March 31 that Presidential Advisor 
Ali Alatas may revisit Burma o/a April 17, although that date 
could slip due to the concurrent Burmese New Year. 
Prodjowarsito portrayed Indonesia as a close friend of Burma 
and suggested that Alatas would offer the regime "help and 
advice."  Alatas, as during his most recent visit in 2003, 
will not make a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi "a top 
priority."  Prodjowarsito's preview gives us the impression 
that Alatas does not intend to depart from his soft approach 
toward the Burmese regime.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) On March 31 COM and P/E Chief called on Indonesian 
Ambassador to Burma, Wyoso Prodjowarsito, and learned that 
Indonesia had yet to receive an invitation to the second 
Bangkok meeting on Burma, scheduled for April 30 (ref B). 
However, Prodjowarsito had recently met with the Burmese 
Deputy FM and expected an invitation imminently. 
Prodjowarsito offered his own view that the first Bangkok 
meeting, held last December, was helpful in that the GOB had 
agreed to attend and sent FM Win Aung as its envoy.  However, 
Prodjowarsito said, the GOB had provided no new information 
at the first session and expectations would be higher for 
something concrete at the upcoming meeting. 
 
3. (C) Prodjowarsito said that Indonesian Presidential 
Advisor Ali Alatas was scheduled to arrive in Burma o/a April 
17, but noted that this date fell on Burmese New Year and 
could slip due to the related water festival, which 
effectively shuts the GOB down April 12-17.  According to 
Prodjowarsito, "Indonesia is a close friend of Myanmar; 
Alatas will visit at the invitation of the GOB and he will 
offer the Burmese whatever help and advice we can." 
Prodjowarsito said that when Alatas made his most recent 
visit to Burma in September 2003 (ref C) he had met with SPDC 
Chairman Than Shwe and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, meetings he 
would likely pursue again.  "However," the Ambassador added, 
"it has never been Alatas' top priority to see Aung San Suu 
Kyi and he will not pursue that opportunity unless she asks 
for it." 
 
4. (C) Prodjowarsito told the COM that the U.S. should not 
pressure the SPDC.  "You have to be patient," he said, "and 
you need to lift sanctions in order to give the GOB some room 
to breath."  COM replied that the regime was responsible for 
its own predicament and stated that there are numerous steps 
(e.g. the release of ASSK and the rest of the NLD leadership; 
the release of 1,300 political prisoners; etc.) that the SPDC 
could take to improve its standing with the international 
community.  The COM referred to a statement the GOB had 
issued on March 28, critical of recent U.S. Congressional 
testimony on Burma, that complained no country can transform 
itself into a democracy "overnight."  The COM observed that 
the military had seized power in 1962 and said, "Forty two 
years hardly qualifies as "overnight." 
 
5. (C) Comment:  The Indonesian Ambassador in Rangoon is not 
a major player and he seemed somewhat uninformed about recent 
Burma developments.  He does, however, get more deeply 
involved when Alatas is in town.  According to Ambassador 
Prodjowarsito, Alatas operates independently from UN Special 
Envoy Razali as well as from the Bangkok process.  Although 
separate reporting (ref A and previous) indicates that Alatas 
does in fact coordinate with others on Burma, we did not get 
the impression from this meeting that the Indonesian 
Presidential Advisor intends to depart from the "soft" 
approach he took during his previous visit.  End Comment. 
Martinez