Beijing – U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari met for more than an hour Sunday with Myan mar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, after an apparent snub by senior military leaders of the troubled nation.
The visit came on a relatively quiet day on which government opponents who have led a series of peaceful demonstrations hinted that they might change tactics and undertake an economic boycott.
World leaders including President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have spoken out strongly against political repression in Myanmar, but the junta continues to receive little pressure from China and other Southeast Asian neighbors and trading partners.
Regional giants India and China have remained friendly with the military government, lured by the nation’s oil and natural-gas reserves.
Gambari’s meeting in Yangon with Suu Kyi, who has been under detention for most of the past 18 years, followed a trip to the new capital of Naypyitaw, where he conferred with junior ministers but was not granted a meeting with the top leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, or No. 2, Deputy Senior Gen. Maung Aye.
Few details of Gambari’s meetings were available, but analysts said he hoped to open a dialogue between the ruling generals and Suu Kyi, long the central figure in Myanmar’s political opposition. Gambari was reportedly holding out for a return to Naypyitaw if top leaders agreed to see him. A U.N. statement said he still expected to meet with Than Shwe before his planned departure Tuesday.
Sunday saw a second day of relative calm on the streets of major Myanmar cities as many citizens remained at home in the face of a heavy military presence and a reported wave of arrests.
News agencies carried an account of one protest in the western state of Rakhine, where an unnamed local resident said more than 800 people marched in Taunggok, shouting, “Release all political prisoners!” before police and soldiers forced them to disperse.
As the ruling military junta in Myan mar tightens its grip, monks and the media, political activists inside the country and exile advisers abroad say the movement is mulling a course change: urging citizens to vote with their pocketbooks.
Myanmar’s military leaders
HOW DID THEY COME TO POWER? The State Peace and Development Council, as Myanmar’s ruling junta is formally known, replaced another dictatorship in 1988 after suppressing a pro-democracy uprising.
WHO ARE THEY? Leading the 12-member council is Senior Gen. Than Shwe, 74, an uncompromising hard-liner. No. 2 is Deputy Senior Gen. Maung Aye, 69, known for his ruthless suppression of ethnic rebels.
HOW DO THEY STAY IN POWER? Myanmar has a 400,000-man military, one of the largest in Asia. Soldiers live in isolated barracks, secluded from civilian life; their families are provided with housing as well.
WHERE DO THEY GET REVENUE? The country has opened to foreign investment. Myanmar is rich in natural resources, including potentially vast oil and gas reserves.
WHO ARE THEIR ALLIES? China is the regime’s main ally and its main trading partner. China and India curry favor with the junta because of Myanmar’s strategic location and its natural resources.
The Associated Press
