UN envoy returns to Burma

Gambari is in Asia to coordinate a regional response to the crisis in Burma, but declined to comment on his mission to reporters at Bangkok’s airport tonight, saying he would speak after meeting Thai officials tomorrow.

“I’ll see you, I believe, after the meeting with the foreign minister, and I’ll answer all your questions,” he said.

He is due to travel to Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan before returning to Burma.

Earlier this month Gambari met with Burma junta leader Gen Than Shwe during a four-day visit, urging the government to end its crackdown on protesters. He also met twice with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

His negotiating efforts have not yet resulted in a dialogue between the government and opposition. Burma’s government has said Than Shwe is willing to meet with Suu Kyi “personally” if she gives up her confrontational attitude and renounces support for sanctions against the military regime.

The government also appointed a well-regarded Cabinet member, Deputy Labour Minister Aung Kyi, to coordinate communication among the UN, the junta and Suu Kyi.

The response of Suu Kyi, who is held incommunicado under house arrest, is not yet known.

Foreign news websites, including the BBC and CNN, which have provided many inside tightly controlled Burma with their only information about recent pro-democracy protests, remained blocked.

The junta cut Internet access September 28, two days after troops opened fire on peaceful protesters and images of the crackdown were plastered on websites. Internet service was restored earlier this month for short periods during the day.

Authorities also relaxed a night-time curfew, shortening it by four hours.

The concessions, however, came amid reports that the government continued detaining dissidents.

On Saturday, security forces arrested at least four prominent political activists who went into hiding to escape a government manhunt after leading some of the first major marches several weeks ago, Amnesty International said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the arrests “clearly demonstrate that there needs to be an international presence on the ground,” referring to Gambari’s trip.

“We’re encouraging special envoy Gambari to get back to Burma as soon as possible,” Rice told reporters aboard her plane en route from Russia to the Middle East.

The United Nations has spearheaded an international effort to push Burma’s military, which has ruled the country since 1962, to halt its crackdown and enter negotiations with detained National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Burma’s military leaders have rebuffed calls for reforms, saying the only way to bring change to the country is to follow the junta’s seven-step “road map” to democracy.

The road map is supposed to culminate in a general election at an unspecified future date. But so far only the first stage – drawing up guidelines for a new constitution – has been completed, and that took more than a decade. Critics say the plan has no clear timetable and is a ruse to allow the military to hold onto power.

Among the activists recently detained was one of Burma’s most famous dissidents, Htay Kywe. Others arrested were Aung Htoo and Thin Thin Aye, also known as Mie Mie.

The three were believed to be among the last remaining activists at large from the 88 Generation Students group – the country’s boldest dissident organisation - which was at the forefront of a 1988 democracy uprising and one of the main forces behind the protests that started in August this year.

A fourth activist, Ko Ko, was also arrested, Amnesty International said.

Troops crushed the more recent pro-democracy demonstrations by shooting into crowds of protesters in Yangon on Sept. 26-27. The regime says 10 people were killed in the clashes and 2,100 were detained, but diplomats and dissidents say that the toll is much higher, and that as many as 6,000 people were taken into custody.