UN envoy fails to meet Burmese leaders

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

A UN statement said Ibrahim Gambari met the acting prime minister, the deputy foreign minister and the ministers of information and culture.

It said Gambari “looks forward to meeting” Senior General Than Shwe, the head of the military council that runs the government.

Another notable name absent from the list of people Gambari met was that of Than Shwe’s Number 2, Deputy Senior General Maung Aye.

But Gambari, who returned to Rangoon, also known as Yangon, today to meet Suu Kyi, later flew back to Naypyitaw, 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.