Myanmar diplomat defects, warns of oppression MATTHEW PENNINGTON July 5, 2011 01:49 PM EST

Compare other versions WASHINGTON A senior Myanmar diplomat in Washington has defected to the U.S., warni ng that oppression is rising in his homeland despite elections touted by the dom inant military as a transition to democracy. Kyaw Win, the deputy chief of mission, appealed for political asylum in the Unit ed States in a letter dated Monday and addressed to Secretary of State Hillary R odham Clinton. In the letter he says his conscience prevents him from continuing to work for the government. He also calls for the U.S. to implement targeted sa nctions against the government and its "cronies." The Associated Press obtained the letter, and Kyaw Win confirmed in a phone conv ersation Tuesday with AP he had sent it but declined further comment. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed Tuesday receipt of the le tter but declined to comment further, saying it was private diplomatic correspon dence. The defection is a setback to the efforts of Myanmar, also known as Burma, to co nvince the international community that flawed elections it held last November h erald an end to five decades of military rule and merit the easing of economic s anctions by Western nations. In the strongly worded letter, Kyaw Win says the mi litary continues to hold uncontested power. "The truth is that senior military officials are consolidating their grip on pow er and seeking to stamp out the voices of those seeking democracy, human rights and individual liberties. Oppression is rising and war against our ethnic cousin s is imminent and at present, threats are being made against Aung San Suu Kyi must be taken seriously," he wrote. Nobel laureate Suu Kyi leads a pro-democracy party that won 1990 elections but w as barred by the military from taking power. She was released from years of hous e arrest after the latest elections, but has been warned to stay out of politics . State-run press warned last week that her plans to travel upcountry could spar k riots and chaos. Suu Kyi drew large crowds when she last traveled in the countryside in 2003, and her popularity rattled the ruling junta. Supporters of the junta ambushed her e ntourage, killing several of her followers. Kyaw Win wrote that he has served in Myanmar's Foreign Ministry for 31 years, in cluding more than three years in Washington. He says he fears returning to the c ountry because his efforts to improve bilateral relations with the U.S. have bee n continually rejected and "resulted in my being deemed dangerous by the governm ent." Shifting from the previous U.S. policy of diplomatic isolation of Myanmar, the O bama administration has attempted to engage its government but made little disce rnible progress. Kyaw Win urged the U.S. to help set up an international council of inquiry to in vestigate human rights violations in conflict zones of Myanmar, where long-simme ring conflicts between government forces and ethnic armies have flared up in rec ent months.

they

He also calls for the U.S. to implement "highly targeted financial sanctions aga inst the government and their cronies that serve to keep them in power." Kyaw Win is the second senior diplomat from Myanmar's mission in Washington to s eek political asylum in the U.S. in recent years, following the defection of dep uty chief of mission Au