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Burma Invites UN Special Envoy to Visit in August


The United Nations says Burma has invited Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy to make a return visit to the country next month.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Tuesday that Burma's military government sent a letter inviting Ibrahim Gambari to visit in mid-August.

Okabe said the precise date, program and objectives for the trip to the cyclone-ravaged country have not been set.

Gambari described his last visit in March as disappointing. He was able to meet with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but not Burma's top general.

The military government also rejected Gambari's calls for a transparent and inclusive democratic reform process.

The special envoy is tasked with mediating reconciliation talks between Burma's military government and its pro-democracy political opponents.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy won Burma's last general elections in 1990. But the country's ruling generals have refused to recognize the results of those elections and have kept her under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.



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