Gambari to brief UN's Ban on Myanmar visit

Gambari to brief UN's Ban on Myanmar visit
Wed Feb 4, 2:12 am ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) – UN envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari will brief Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New Delhi on his latest attempt to nudge the military-ruled nation towards democracy, an official said Wednesday.

Gambari ended a four-day visit to Myanmar on Tuesday, during which he met detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but failed to secure a meeting with Myanmar's head of state Senior General Than Shwe.

"Mr Gambari will be here for a few hours tomorrow (Thursday) when he will brief the UN Secretary General, who will be in New Delhi for an international conference on climate change," the UN official told AFP.

Gambari was appointed as the top UN troubleshooter dealing with Myanmar in 2006 but his three visits to the country have produced few results.

During a meeting with Gambari on Tuesday, Myanmar's prime minister Thein Sein demanded he push Western nations to end sanctions if they wanted to see political reform, Myanmar's state media reported.

The United States and Europe have a raft of economic sanctions in place against the military-ruled nation to protest against human rights abuses and the long-running detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.

India, which shares a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Myanmar, was a supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi but has recently cultivated ties with the junta as it sees the country as a source of energy to power its fast economic growth.

India's vice president Hamid Ansari was to begin a four-day visit to the reclusive nation on Thursday.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. Aung San Suu Kyi led the National League for Democracy to election victory in 1990, but the junta ignored the results.