YOKOTA MEETS SLORC, TO MEET ASSK

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

   UN human rights envoy meets Burmese officials in Rangoon
 
   BANGKOK, Oct 9 (AFP) - United Nations special envoy Yozo
Yokota met with senior Burmese military junta members Monday at
the start of his official visit, state-run Burmese radio
reported.
   Yokota, a UN special rapporteur for human rights, will also
meet later in his visit with Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's leading
pro-democracy activist who was released from her six-year house
arrest in July. It will be his first meeting with the Nobel Peace
laureate as he was not allowed to see her on previous trips.
   On Monday, Yokota held talks with Health Minister Than Nyunt
and Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe, Radio Rangoon said in a
broadcast monitored here.
   According to the report, Yokota also held a meeting with
senior Burmese foreign ministry officials Monday afternoon to
coordinate the rest of his visit.
   Yokota, a Japanese professor who arrived in Rangoon on Sunday
for a one-week trip, was appointed by UN's Human Rights
Commission to gather information on the human rights situation in
Burma.
   A reliable sources in Rangoon said earlier that Yokota is
expected to meet with senior Burmese military generals, leaders
of political parties and visit country's major prisons to check
the welfare of political prisoners.