Burma: UN Envoy Granted Access to Suu Kyi
After holding talks with the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari hopes to discuss the situation with Junta leaders to avoid further bloodshed.
Below is an article published by Reuters:
U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari had talks on Sunday [30 September 2007] with
However, there was no word on when Gambari might meet the general who heads the junta, Than Shwe, who is based in the new capital Naypyidaw, 240 miles (385 km) north of
"He looks forward to meeting Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, before the conclusion of his mission," a U.N. statement said.
Diplomats said Gambari met Suu Kyi for more than an hour at a
They met after Gambari flew back from Naypyidaw where he had talks with acting Prime Minister Thein Sein, Culture Minister Khin Aung Nyint and Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, they said.
It was not known if he had made any progress towards ending the crackdown on the biggest anti-junta protests for nearly 20 years, in which hundreds of Buddhist monks were held, central
There were no crowds visible on Sunday [30 September 2007] in the city centre, where security forces snuffed out protests by sealing off two pagodas at their heart and keeping away the monks who led them.
Troops and police searched bags and people for cameras and the Internet remained off line.
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said at least 700 monks and 500 other people had been arrested throughout the country.
The protests began with small marches against fuel price rises in mid-August [2007] and intensified when soldiers fired over the heads of protesting monks, causing monasteries to mobilise.
The crackdown, in which soldiers shot into crowds, raided monasteries and took monks away in trucks, provoked an outraged response from governments around the world.
The heavy-handed suppression even prompted criticism from
On Sunday [30 September 2007], Pope Benedict appealed for a peaceful solution to the "extremely serious" events in
In
The generals habitually ignore outside pressure, but bowed to the international outcry to admit Gambari, a former Nigerian foreign minister, at short notice.
The government has acknowledged that 10 people were killed on Wednesday [26 September 2007], the first day of the crackdown, although Western governments say the real toll is almost certainly higher.
A Japanese video journalist was shot dead when troops opened fire on a crowd of chanting protesters.
A Japanese envoy arrived on Sunday [30 September 2007] to ensure a full investigation into the death of Kenji Nagai, 50.
Footage of his death appeared to show a soldier shooting him at point-blank range as security forces cleared protesters from central
In
Suu Kyi's meeting with Gambari was a rare excursion outside her home, but the second in little more than a week.
Since she was last detained in May 2003, her fellow countrymen have seen her just once -- when she appeared at the gates of her lakeside villa to pay respects to a monk allowed through the barricades sealing off her street.