UN envoy in crisis talks in Burma

A United Nations envoy was holding crucial talks today with a top Burmese general in a last-ditch effort to win access to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, detained following a bloody clash that prompted a crackdown on her party.

The UN special envoy, Razali Ismail, was meeting a top junta figure, believed to be General Maung Aye, the regime’s number two, diplomatic sources said.

Razali is on the fourth day of his five-day mission to Burma to seek Suu Kyi’s release, but has so far received no public indication that he would be able to even meet the Nobel Peace Laureate.