UN envoy ends another Myanmar trip empty-handed

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Tue, Feb 3 2009, 10:42 GMT
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YANGON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari wound up his latest visit to Myanmar on Tuesday having failed to make any headway in his bid to coax detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta towards talks on political reform.


During a meeting with Gambari, Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) made it clear they would not bend from the line that 1990 elections, won by the NLD but dismissed by the generals, must be the basis of any settlement.


The junta insists elections will be held next year under the closing stages of a seven-point "roadmap to democracy" that nevertheless confers ultimate control of the former Burma on the military, which has ruled since a 1962 coup.


"The NLD are still sticking to the same old stance. They haven't changed their game plan at all," one veteran politician, who declined to be named, told Reuters.



"I'm so sorry for the country, for the people, especially the young ones. I don't know how much longer we will be stuck in this deadlock. Gambari cannot be blamed for this. After all, he isn't a magician," the former politician said.


On the junta's side, the most senior official Gambari met was Prime Minister Thein Sein, number four in the military hierarchy.


Amid talk of a possible visit by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to kickstart the non-existent negotiations, the NLD also insisted it would not welcome Ban before the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.


The Nobel peace laureate, who has been in prison or under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years, is among 2,162 people believed to be in detention because of their political or religious beliefs.


(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by


Paul Tait) Keywords: MYANMAR UN/


(edward.cropley@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: edward.cropley.reuters.com@reuters.net; +66 2 648 9722 )




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