UN Envoy Seeks Talks Between Burmese Military, Opponents

Source: Agence France-Presse via Inquirer.Net

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari was in Myanmar's bunker-like new capital Sunday hoping to nudge the country's ruling generals into reconciliation talks with their pro-democracy opponents.

Gambari arrived Saturday for his second visit since the junta violently suppressed anti-government demonstrations in September. The day before his arrival in Yangon, the isolated Southeast Asian nation's largest city, the junta announced it planned to expel the top UN diplomat in the country, adding an extra hurdle to the envoy's already difficult mission.

After a brief stopover in Yangon, Gambari flew to Naypyitaw to meet with senior leaders, Myanmar government officials said, requesting anonymity since they were not authorized to speak to the media.

It was not known which leaders would meet him in Naypyitaw, 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of Yangon, where the generals have established a new capital in a remote area nestled in mountain jungles, or whether he would later be allowed to visit detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon.

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