Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the UN, said that he had held “productive” talks with Min Aung Hlaing, the general who led the February coup, on a recent visit to discuss humanitarian aid. Rights activists said he gave the junta an air of legitimacy.
Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, was critical of Mr. Richardson for not securing the release of other prisoners apart from a former employee of his nonprofit group. Mark Farmaner said on Twitter that the trip had given Min Aung Hlaing “the money shot he waited 9 months for. Will he get Danny Fenster [an American journalist] in return? What about the other 7,000 political prisoners?”