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YANGON: UN troubleshooter Ibrahim Gambari is expected to brief UN chief Ban Ki-moon Sunday on his recent visit to Myanmar, before the secretary general heads to Asia and possibly to the military-ruled nation.
Gambari flew out of Myanmar on Saturday following a two-day visit aimed at paving the way for Ban's prospective trip early next month, which would come against the backdrop of the trial of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Nigerian diplomat met twice with Foreign Minister Nyan Win in the military government's remote administrative capital Naypyidaw before holding talks with Singapore's ambassador and UN staff in Yangon, Myanmar officials said.
He was expected to brief Ban back in New York on the outcome of his mission before the UN chief departs for Japan on Monday, UN spokesman in Bangkok Hak-Fan Lau said.
Ban will then decide whether to go ahead with plans to visit Myanmar early next month, according to UN sources in New York.
State media in Myanmar confirmed the focus of Gambari's meetings there was on the UN secretary general's expected visit in early July.
The New Light of Myanmar, the state newspaper, said Gambari "called on Minister for Foreign Affairs U Nyan Win on 26 and 27 June".
The pair "held discussions about the programme for the visit of His Excellency Mr Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General, to Myanmar," the newspaper reported Sunday.
But the UN special envoy to Myanmar did not meet Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi himself before flying out of the country on a Saturday evening Thai Airways flight.
The UN boss and Gambari have been trying to persuade Myanmar's ruling generals to free all political detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and steer their country on the path to democracy and national reconciliation.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, is being held in jail on charges of violating her house arrest after American John Yettaw swam to her lakeside house earlier this year. She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
The case has drawn widespread international condemnation, with US President Barack Obama describing it as a "show trial" and some of Myanmar's neighbours breaking their usual silence on the issue.
On Sunday former US first lady Laura Bush, a long term critic of Myanmar, urged the UN chief to put new pressure on the country in order to force its military leaders to stop human rights abuses.
"With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon planning to visit (Myanmar) this summer, it is crucial that he press (the government) to take immediate steps to end human rights abuses, particularly in ethnic minority areas," the spouse of former president George W. Bush wrote in The Washington Post.
"There have been 38 UN resolutions condemning these abuses, yet the horrors continue unabated," she pointed out in the op-ed piece.
"Under the military government’s brutal rule, too many lives have been wasted, lives whose talents could have helped all of (Myanmar) prosper."
Gambari was named the top UN envoy for Myanmar in 2006 but his previous visits have produced few results.
Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet him in August 2008, apparently after he failed to secure reform pledges from the government.
The charges against Aung San Suu Kyi come amid a wide-ranging crackdown on the opposition that has been carried out since the ruling generals crushed protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007.
More than 2,100 political prisoners remain imprisoned, according to United Nations figures.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention since the ruling generals refused to recognise the landslide victory of her National League for Democracy party (NLD) in 1990 elections.
The United States and Europe have both imposed sanctions against Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962.
- AFP/yb
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