JAKARTA - An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by leaders of Myanmar's ruling military regime to represent them in Washington and other capitals to stop his work.
In an announcement made on Wednesday, July 14 yesterday, Ari Ben-Menashe decided to stop his work with the regime, because sanctions against Myanmar prevented the Land of a Thousand Pagodas from paying him.
Ari Ben-Menashe and his Montreal-based company Dickens & Madson Canada in March signed a $2 million (US) agreement with a top general, filing foreign lobbying documents with the US Department of Justice.
The former Israeli intelligence official vowed to help Western countries understand the generals who seized power in Myanmar in the February 1 coup.
Ben-Menashe said at the time he would receive payment once the sanctions were lifted. His decision to cooperate with Myanmar's military risks violating US sanctions imposed on top generals, legal experts say.
Sanctions against military leaders already exist, but Washington has stepped up action against them and military companies as Myanmar's security forces have handled anti-coup protests with brutality.
On Wednesday, Ben-Menashe said by telephone he remained on good terms with the generals of the Myanmar military regime, but that his job had "stopped" because he could not receive payments due to sanctions against Myanmar.
Ben-Menashe said he informed military leaders of the halt last month. This was first reported by the Foreign Lobby Report on Tuesday.
"We can't get paid. It becomes very expensive," said Ben-Menashe, citing Reuters on Thursday, July 15.
While working for the generals, Ben-Menashe helped organize a CNN reporter's visit to Myanmar. He declined to go into detail about his other work for the generals, other than describing it as 'humanitarian'.
To note, the Myanmar military regime is trying to improve relations with the United States and other western countries. For this purpose, the Myanmar military regime collaborated with a former Israeli military intelligence official, Ari Ben-Menashe who had experience representing the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, to the military rulers of Sudan.
また読む:
Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.
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