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UN Envoy Begins Burma Visit

18 August 2008

Ibrahim Gambari (file photo)
Ibrahim Gambari (file photo)
U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari began a five-day visit to military-ruled Burma Monday.

The trip is expected to focus on restarting stalled talks between the opposition National League for Democracy and the country's military rulers.

Gambari has visited Burma four times since the country's military rulers carried out a bloody crackdown on democracy protests last September.

Previous talks have yielded few results.

Western diplomats in Rangoon say Gambari will try to persuade Burma's military junta to revive its dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and address the key issue of political prisoners.

The former Nigerian foreign minister is expected to meet directly with Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years.

On Sunday, Burma's military government allowed Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, to meet with her lawyer at her Rangoon home for over four hours.

 

 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

 

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