US diplomat takes flak for ‘personal attack’ on Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi
He was shocked by how some fellow panel members had disparaged the media, the UN, rights groups and the international community
Yangon — US diplomat Bill Richardson was accused on Thursday of a "personal attack" on Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, after an excoriating take-down of the former darling of the global rights community as he resigned from a panel on the Rohingya crisis. Richardson, a former ally of Suu Kyi, was one of five foreign members handpicked by Myanmar’s civilian leader to serve on the committee. But after a three-day visit to Myanmar, Richardson struck out at his hosts, saying he could not in "good conscience" sit on a panel he feared would only "whitewash" the causes of the Rohingya crisis. He lambasted Nobel laureate Suu Kyi for an "absence of moral leadership" over Rakhine, and described her "furious response" to his calls to free two Reuters journalists arrested while covering the crisis. A Myanmar government spokesman hit back on Thursday, accusing the former New Mexico governor of overstepping in his stinging resignation letter. "He should review himself over his personal attack against ...
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