UN Restarts Talks to Persuade Burma's Junta on Reforms

Source: International Herald Tribune

The United Nations on Saturday began its latest mission to persuade Myanmar's military government to reconcile with its democratic dissidents. But the visit by the United Nations special envoy is already being strained by the junta's order to expel the top United Nations official in the country.

Ibrahim Gambari, the special envoy, did not make public his full itinerary but a United Nations statement said he planned to meet with "as many relevant interlocutors as possible."

Gambari's visit is his second since the military government's deadly crackdown in September on protests led by monks and students.

Immediately after arriving in Yangon on Saturday, Gambari met for an hour with Charles Petrie, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator who on Friday was ordered to leave the country because of a statement his office issued that effectively linked Myanmar's poverty with mismanagement by the government.

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