Centennial birthday of Myanmar's former UN chief marked - Summary

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Yangon - Relatives of Myanmar's former United Nations secretary general U Thant commemorated the centennial birthday of the controversial Burmese national hero on Thursday, amid reports that UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari will visit the country soon. The birthday anniversary celebration was organized by the U Thant Institute and Aye Aye Thant, daughter of U Thant, who is also the president of the institute.

UN representatives, foreign diplomats, a Myanmar foreign ministry representative attended the event, sources said.

Bishow Parajuli, the resident UN humanitarian coordinator, read out a message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the ceremony.

Such events require official permission in Myanmar, which is ruled by a military junta. The permission to hold a party commemorating U Thant's centennial anniversary came amid reports that UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari has planning a four-day visit to the country starting January 31.

Western diplomats at the U Thant ceremony confirmed the visit.


Gambari's last visit in August, 2008, proved a diplomatic disappointment, as he was denied meetings with both junta chief Senior General Than Shwe and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May, 2003.

The UN has made little progress in pushing the junta towards freeing Suu Kyi and over 2,000 political prisoners and introducing democratic reforms.

U Thant, one of the few Burmese to reach international stature, remains a controversial figure in military-controlled Myanmar, also known as Burma.

U Thant served as the third secretary general of the United Nations, from 1961 to 1971. He was widely credited for his successful efforts for defusing Cuba's Missile Crisis and ending Congo's civil war during his term.

Born in Pantanaw town, in the Irrawaddy delta region, on January 22, 1909, U Thant died on November 25, 1974, while living abroad in self-imposed exile.

When his body was brought back to Yangon, then called Rangoon, for burial former military dictator General Ne Win refused it national honours.

University students snatched U Thant's coffin as it was heading for an ordinary burial on December 5, 1974, and took it to the Rangoon University Student Union grounds, turning the funeral into an anti-Ne Win uprising.

On December 11, 1974, troops stormed the university campus, dug out U Thant's coffin and reburied it at the current mausoleum at the foot of famous Shwedagon pagoda. Many students were killed in the incident, marking one of the first serious uprisings against Ne Win.

The current military regime remains loyal to the memory of Ne Win, whose coup in 1962 overthrew the country's first elected prime minister U Nu and put the country under the military's grip, where it remains today.

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