No sign of progress on UN envoy's Myanmar visit

No sign of progress on UN envoy's Myanmar visit
Tue Feb 3, 1:48 pm ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The special U.N. envoy tasked with promoting democracy and political reconciliation in Myanmar ended his latest mission Tuesday with no signs of progress.

Ibrahim Gambari met with the authoritarian military regime's Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein before flying to Singapore without any public statement about his four-day visit.
State television reports indicated he met a cold reception from junta leaders.

Gambari reportedly asked Thein Sein to release more political prisoners, to consider a dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and to make the military-guided political process inclusive for all.

``If the U.N. wants to see economic development and political stability, the U.N. should first try to remove economic sanctions and visa bans imposed on Myanmar,'' Thein Sein reportedly replied.

He said economic sanctions affect health, economic and social conditions and amount to human rights violations.

Western nations, including the United States, impose economic and political sanctions on Myanmar because of its poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy.

Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country since 1962, when it was known as Burma, tolerates virtually no dissent. Human rights groups say it now holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.

On Monday, Gambari met with Suu Kyi, a minor breakthrough because she had refused to see him on his previous visit in August last year. She has expressed disappointment with the U.N.'s failure to persuade the ruling junta to give up its monopoly on power.

Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, has been detained more than 13 of the past 19 years.

Gambari did not meet with junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe during this week's visit, as was the case on his previous three trips.

The United Nations has tried with little success to nudge the military regime toward talks with the opposition, hoping the top generals would respond to international pressure to embrace national reconciliation following its violent suppression of the 2007 protests.

Myanmar's current military leadership came to power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy movement. It held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory.