UN envoy in S'pore after Myanmar mission

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Singapore late on Tuesday from
Myanmar at the end of a four-day mission aimed at halting a bloody crackdown
on anti-government protests there.

Mr Gambari was whisked through a special exit after stepping off a Silk Air
flight from Yangon, away from a group of waiting reporters.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Gambari met with junta leader Than Shwe and, for a
second time, with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

He had arrived in Myanmar on Saturday after being dispatched by UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon when the country's ruling junta launched a
crackdown on anti-government protesters led by Buddhist monks.

The crackdown on the biggest wave of public dissent in nearly 20 years left
at least 13 people dead, sparking international outrage. At least 1,000
others have been detained, officials said.

Mr Gambari had met Gen Than Shwe in the junta's remote new capital,
Naypyitaw, said a foreign diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity,
citing protocol. No details of the meeting were available.

VIDEO
Envoy waits, pagoda barriers lifted
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While Mr Gambari was trying to broker peace, the junta's security forces
lightened their presence in Yangon, the country's main city, which remained
quiet after troops and police brutally quelled mass protests last week.

Dissident groups say up to 200 protesters were slain, compared to the
regime's report of 10 deaths, and 6,000 detained.

'Normalcy has now returned in Myanmar,' Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the
UN General Assembly in New York, adding that security forces acted with
restraint for a month but had to 'take action to restore the situation.'

Mr Nyan Win made no reference to the deaths. Instead, he blamed foreign
elements for the violence.

'Recent events make clear that there are elements within and outside the
country who wish to derail the ongoing process (towards democracy) so that
they can take advantage of the chaos that would follow,' he said.

'They have become more and more emboldened and have stepped up their
campaign to confront the government,' he said.

Mr Nyan Win's comments indicated that the junta would not give up its
hardline position and is willing to thumb its nose at international demands
to restore democracy and free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mr Gambari has been in the country since Saturday but Gen Than Shwe, who is
notoriously difficult to meet with, did not make himself available until
Tuesday.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, and the current junta came to
power in 1988 after crushing a much larger pro-democracy movement in which
about 3,000 people are believed to have been killed. The generals called
elections in 1990 but refused to give up power when Ms Suu Kyi's party won.

Simmering anger against the junta exploded in mid-August after it hiked fuel
prices as much as 500 per cent. -- AP