BURMA:The UN special envoy tasked with brokering a compromise in the Burma crisis extended his mission into today after holding talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but failing to gain an audience with pivotal military leader Gen Tan Shwe.
Ibrahim Gambari spent yesterday shuttling between the junta's stronghold at Naypidaw and the main city Rangoon, where weeks of street protests against military rule have generated a violent confrontation that has left at least 13 dead.
He spent more than an hour in talks with Ms Suu Kyi (62), when she was brought from the nearby lakeside villa where she is under house arrest. But the UN declined to disclose details of his discussions and could only say he "looks forward" to meeting the military chief, even as sceptics pointed to his dismal track record in persuading Burma's brutal dictatorship to change course.
Earlier he met several generals in the junta. UN sources said they dismissed the protests as the work of disruptive elements backed by foreign embassies.
The situation on the ground was very different from the violent crackdown that prompted the UN to dispatch Mr Gambari at the end of last week. Rangoon was calmer yesterday, locked down effectively by thousands of police and soldiers who were searching cars and buses at roadblocks.
Campaigners warned against expecting too much from the UN.
They pointed to soothing noises Mr Gambari had made last year after the junta gave him assurances of progress that turned out to illusory. Without the UN security council's firm commitment to set a timeframe for the regime to begin talks about democracy, backed by the looming threat of international economic sanctions, Mr Gambari would be toothless, they said.
Signs of diplomatic movement emerged on Saturday when China, Burma's closest ally and biggest trading partner, which vetoed a UN censure in January, issued its firmest statement thus far, urging the generals to re-establish stability peacefully and work towards democracy.
"China hopes that all parties concerned in [ Burma] show restraint, resume stability through peaceful means as soon as possible, promote domestic reconciliation and achieve democracy and development," Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, said following his talks with British prime minister Gordon Brown.
Yesterday there were few reports of demonstrations as Rangoon and other cities remained under heavy security.
Witnesses described small groups of protesters appearing fleetingly. Internet links to Burma also remained cut for the third day, apparently a further attempt by the regime to keep the lid on the flow of information and pictures showing the international community evidence of the soldiers' brutality. Yet diplomats who toured Rangoon in the afternoon said Sule pagoda, which was the focus of some demonstrations, was no longer cordoned off by troops. Some sense of normality had returned as traffic flowed and people went about their business despite the security forces on every street corner.- ( Guardian service )