Ex-US ambassador to UN Bill Richardson ends Myanmar visit

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson has left Myanmar after finishing a private humanitarian mission in which he sought to boost the Southeast Asian country’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic and facilitate the delivery of aid. His Richardson Center for Global Engagement says he met with the leader of the military government and other top officials, as well as with foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations. It says he recommended a range of humanitarian measures, mainly to facilitate the delivery of aid to remote areas. Myanmar faces a crisis especially due to armed conflict that broke out after the military’s seizure of power in February, when it ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.