Envoy Leaves Burma After Talks

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari left Burma today after meeting with a top general and a second meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, released from house arrest for the talks. Gambari, who was attempting to open dialog between the military junta and dissidents whose protests were brutally suppressed last week, had cooled his heels for four days before Gen. Than Shwe agreed to see him, the BBC reports.

Streets were quiet in Yangon, with junta leaders shortening the curfew by two hours and removing barbed wire surrounding some pagodas that had been the targets of protests. "As the protesters are becoming invisible, our concern only increases for the safety of the monks," said a UN official. Witnesses are scheduled to testify before the UN Human Rights Council. (More Burma stories.)