A war of words has erupted in Myanmar after veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson resigned from an advisory panel set up to address the Rohingya crisis.
Mr Richardson issued a statement on Wednesday in which he called Aung San Suu Kyi's Advisory Board on Rakhine State a "cheerleading squad for government policy" that would "whitewash" the causes of the Rohingya crisis.
The one-time Aung San Suu Kyi ally pulled few punches, slamming the Nobel Laureate for an "absence of moral leadership" over Rakhine. He also described her "furious" reaction when he brought up the case of two Reuters journalists arrested while covering the crisis.
Mr Richardson said he was also "taken aback by the vigour with which the media, the United Nations, human rights groups and in general the international community were disparaged" during his recent meetings with Myanmar officials.
Bill Richardson resigned from an advisory panel trying to tackle the Rohingya crisis. Source: AP
But now the Myanmar government is claiming that it made the decision to dump the former New Mexico Governor and Clinton administration cabinet member.
"In view of the difference of opinion that developed, the government decided that his continued participation on the board would not be in the best interest of all concerned," the office said in an English statement.
"It became evident that the intent of Governor Bill Richardson was … to pursue his own agenda," the statement said.
The Myanmar-language version said they decided to "terminate" his participation.
A spokeswoman for Mr Richardson said the Myanmar government's statement was "not true."
A spokesman for Myanmar's government, U Zaw Htay, told the New York Times that Mr Richardson "needs to understand clearly that he is supposed to give advice only about the Rakhine issue, not everything about Myanmar."
Myanmar analyst Khin Zaw Win said Mr Richardson's words could deliver a "much-needed jolt for Aung San Suu Kyi and for the people around her who are not reporting the truth to her."
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled violence. Source: AP
Aaron L. Connelly from the Lowy Institute for International Policy said that the description of the conversation between Mr Richardson and Aung San Suu Kyi should "finally dispel the myth that she privately holds views which she cannot express publicly."
Aung San Suu Kyi's reputation as a human rights icon has been severely tarnished after her response to the Rohingya crisis.
Since late August 2017, nearly 690,000 Rohingya had fled to Bangladesh after a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State.
The International Crisis Group has called it "one of the fastest refugee exoduses in modern times."
Additional reporting: AFP
