UN envoy meets Suu Kyi but not junta chief

A united nation’s envoy met Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but failed to see the top leadership of Myanmar’s ruling junta...

A united nation’s envoy met Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but failed to see the top leadership of Myanmar’s ruling junta in his bid to find a peaceful solution to the crisis that has engulfed the impoverished country.

The meeting With Suu Kyi lasted about 90 minutes, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. Details of the meeting were not immediately known.

A UN statement said Ibrahim Gambari met on Sunday with the acting Prime Minister, the Deputy Foreign Minister and the ministers of information and culture in the junta’s new bunker-like capital Naypyitaw.

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The list did not include either junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe or his deputy Maung Aye. But Gambari, who returned to Yangon on Sunday to meet with Suu Kyi, flew back to Naypyitaw late in the evening, raising hopes that he would still be able to meet the two key men in the government. It was also possible that he was carrying a message from Suu Kyi to the leadership.

The UN has repeatedly failed to bring about a reconciliation between the military government and the pro-democracy opposition. Gambari has also failed to secure freedom for Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace prize winner who has come to symbolise the democracy struggle in Myanmar.