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AFP-Departing UN envoy leaves more



Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: AFP-Departing UN envoy leaves more questions than answers in Myanmar

Departing UN envoy leaves more questions than answers in Myanmar
YANGON, Oct 18 (AFP) - United Nations special envoy Alvaro de Soto was due
to leave Myanmar late Monday at the end of a five-day mission aimed at
encouraging dialogue between the junta and opposition.
De Soto, diplomats and the ruling military have remained tight-lipped over
the envoy's meetings leaving observers here with more questions than
answers.

The UN is believed to be considering linking World Bank aid to reform in an
effort to prod the junta to talk with Aung San Suu Kyi's National league for
Democracy (NLD).

A representative of the World Bank is thought to have joined de Soto's
mission.

The UN envoy has met once with the junta's powerful first secretary
Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt and twice with Aung San Suu Kyi, the second
time on Sunday for lunch at her residence.

He also met with members of an opposition parliamentary committee set up by
the NLD to represent the government elected in 1990 polls but never allowed
to sit by the military.

The NLD under Aung San Suu Kyi won the polls in a landslide.

He met with leaders of various ethnic minorities, including those who signed
ceasefire deals with the junta, and opposition Shan NLD leader Khun Tun Oo.

"We tried to explain to him the prevailing political situation as we saw it,
as well as our aspirations for the future ... he showed more interest in the
human rights aspects of the minority races than anything else," Khun Tun Oo
told AFP.

"We'll be quite happy even if initially only bilateral talks between the
military government and the NLD take place," he added, pointing out that
ethnic minorities were represented in both camps.

De Soto, who is the UN assistant secretary general for political affairs,
also held a working lunch with Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung.

The day after his arrival, a crowd of 15,000 junta supporters rallied in the
capital to condemn terrorism and the opposition in the wake of the recent
hostage crisis at Yangon's Bangkok embassy staged by pro-democracy gunmen.

"The timing of the mass rally which took place during de Soto's visit was
too much of a coincidence and obviously meant to convey to him the message
that the people abhorred the NLD and regard it as a terrorist group with
whom there should be no dialogue," one analyst said.

Much of the international community has suspended non-humanitarian aid to
Myanmar because of the junta's poor human rights record and refusal to
recognise the NLD's 1990 election victory.

De Soto last visited Yangon in October 1998.