UN envoy meets Burma's Suu Kyi

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BBC World Service
Wednesday, 11 October, 2000, 12:44 GMT

UN envoy meets Burma's Suu Kyi

The United Nations special envoy to Burma has visited
the country's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, reports from the Burmese capital say.

Witnesses say the envoy, Malaysian diplomat Razali
Ismail, was seen entering the opposition leader's home
on Wednesday accompanied by local UN officials.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads Burma's opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD), has not been seen since 12
September, when she was forcibly returned to her home after
being barred from leaving Rangoon by train.

Since then telephone lines to her house have been cut and
diplomatic access to her denied in what amounts to a de facto
house arrest.

Mr Razali is on a four day visit to Burma designed to try and
break the deadlock between the government and the NLD.

In 1990 the party won an overwhelming victory in nationwide
elections but the military has refused to hand over power.

Military crackdown

Instead it has cracked down on the NLD's activities, jailing
many of its senior leaders without trial and placing strict
restrictions on the movements of others.

Earlier in the day Mr Razali held talks with the leader of the
Burmese junta, Senior General Than Shwe.

The meeting followed talks with another senior military figure
in the Burmese Government, intelligence chief Lieutenant-
General Khin Nyunt.

No details have emerged from the talks but correspondents
say the two meetings are the highest level contact the UN
envoy has had with the Burmese regime since he was
appointed to the post in April this year.