Burma's prime minister Soe Win, presumed to have been the architect of an attack on supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2003, died today in a military hospital in Yangon, state media announced.
Soe Win (58) was believed to be suffering from leukaemia and had been treated for several months in a top Singapore hospital.
He returned to the former Burma on October 1st after the failure of a bone marrow transplant, a Yangon-based source said. His death came after Myanmar's ruling military crushed pro-democracy demonstrations.
But it will have little impact on the ruling junta as he had already been replaced as de facto prime minister by Lieutenant-General Thein Sein.
He rose in prominence in 1988 for helping to stifle a nationwide democracy uprising. His replacement of Khin Nyunt after the latter was sacked as prime minister in 2004 dashed faint prospects for political reform.
Meanwhile China joined Western powers for the first time to deplore the Burmese junta's crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations and call for political dialogue in a statement by the UN Security Council yesterday.
The statement urged the military junta that has ruled Burma for 45 years to free all political prisoners and detained protesters soon and prepare for a "genuine dialogue" with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The official policy statement is not legally binding, but because - unlike a resolution - it required the consent of all 15 council members, it left the Burmese government isolated, Western diplomats said.
It was the first time the council had taken official action on Burma and marked a shift of position by China, a neighbour and key trading partner of Burma that had used its veto to prevent criticism of the country's authorities.
The United Nations said special envoy Ibrahim Gambari would leave over the weekend for an Asian tour expected to culminate in his second visit to Burma since the junta cracked down on the demonstrations led by Buddhist monks last month.
Burmese authorities admit 10 people were killed, but Western governments say the toll is likely much higher.
At least a dozen freed prisoners described brutal treatment at detention centres, including one who said "dozens" of detainees were killed, the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and website run by dissident journalists, reported today.
Another released prisoner, Zaw Myint (45), said he was arrested on September 26th on a Rangoon street after a soldier bashed his face with the butt of his gun, leaving a bloody gash across his cheek.
He said he was denied treatment for three days and then stitched up by a doctor at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison.
"He used the same needle to treat all patients. And I saw him give injections to wounded people using the same syringe," said Mr Myint.