MIL/Agencies/Reuters, Sep 30, 2007. Author:
Yangon: September 30, 2007 - The Myanmar’s junta affair is becoming more and more serious. how to end a bloody crackdown on protests against military rule. The people all over the country are pinning their hopes on UN Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, who they think is the only personality having ability of solving the problem by putting the general under pressure along with other political leaders. Ibrahim Gambari has arrived at Yangon today on the second phase of urgent mission to bring Myanmar’s junta and its opponents to the negotiation table and create a viable peaceful atmosphere. (IR Summary).
Gambari flew in from an overnight stay in Naypyidaw, 240 miles the north of Yangon, the centre of an uprising led by monks that the junta has been squeezing the life out of by arresting or confining monks and barricading off the city centre, as per Reuters.
There was no word even on who Gambari met in Naypyidaw, which translates as "Abode of Kings," where the junta abruptly moved the government in 2005 -- apparently because astrologers had defined the auspicious hour for the shift.
But diplomats said he must have met Senior General Than Shwe, as the junta chief was the only one with the authority to approve a meeting with Suu Kyi.
A Foreign Ministry official contacted in Naypyidaw refused all comment.
The generals usually ignore outside pressure, but they bowed to the international outcry that followed soldiers shooting down peaceful protesters last week to allow Gambari in at short notice.
The heavy-handed suppression of the protests had prompted criticism even from China, the closest the junta has to an ally, and rare condemnation from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member.
Pressure was added by the departure of a Japanese envoy to Myanmar on Sunday on a mission to ensure a full investigation into the death of video journalist Kenji Nagai.
