Burma Junta Nixes Talks With UN, Dissident

Suu Kyi must drop sanction support; UN not making progress
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2007 3:26 PM CST
Burma Junta Nixes Talks With UN, Dissident
A Myanmar soldier stands guard near the home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in this May 6, 2002, file photo, in Yangon. Security near Suu Kyi's home has been considerably eased ahead of a possible meeting with a U.N. envoy, diplomats said Monday, Nov. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)   (Associated Press)

The junta ruling Myanmar—formerly Burma—today rejected a UN proposal for three-way talks that would have included detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Agence France-Presse reports. It is the latest disappointment to mar the visit of UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, in which he has been denied an audience with top general Than Shwe and admonished for UN "interference" in state affairs.

The junta cited Suu Kyi's support for international sanctions in rejecting the talks. The UN has advocated democratic reforms since the brutal September suppression of pro-democracy protests, and the UN envoy's return seems unlikely to produce results. Gambari has met with Suu Kyi's National Democratic Party and passed a letter to Than Shwe from the UN secretary-general. (More Yangon stories.)

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