UN envoy to meet Myanmar junta boss on Tuesday

YANGON: UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, sent to Myanmar to express outrage over the crackdown on anti-government protests, has been forced to wait until Tuesday to meet junta leader Than Shwe, the regime said.   

Gambari made his second trip in two days to the country's new and remote capital Naypyidaw, hoping to see the reclusive general. But officials said he was taken elsewhere for a political workshop instead.   

The secretive regime, which in the past has often frustrated efforts by other UN envoys to visit the country, is facing intense international criticism over its suppression of the protests, which left 13 dead and hundreds arrested.   

Gambari was allowed to meet with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for more than an hour on Sunday in Yangon to discuss anti-government protests that have rumbled since mid-August but turned into a mass movement last week. But after going to Naypyidaw with hopes of meeting the junta leader on Monday, the envoy was taken on a government trip to Lashio, nearly 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of the capital, for a workshop on EU-Asian relations. He would return to the capital on Tuesday to meet with Than Shwe, the official said.   

Last week the regime unleashed a military campaign to stop what became the biggest anti-government demonstrations here in 20 years. The four-day crackdown, which saw live rounds, baton charges and tear gas used against monks, protesters and civilians alike, succeeded in largely stopping the demonstrations.   

Rights groups and diplomats are still coming to grips with the scope of the crackdown, trying to learn more about the hundreds of people arrested. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which monitor's Myanmar's prisons, estimates that up to 1,500 people were locked up last week. "At least 85 protest leaders, over 1,000 monks, and between 300 and 400 students and activists were arrested," said AAPP joint secretary Bo Kyi, adding that the detainees were subject to harsh prison conditions.   

In the main city Yangon on Monday, residents were trying to get their lives back on track despite heavy security. Many schools and shops reopened for the first time since the crackdown began on Wednesday, as commuter buses returned to streets that had been blocked by barbed wire and armed soldiers. Security forces also began allowing Buddhist faithful to enter the sacred Shwedagon and Sule pagodas, two key rallying points for the protests which had been completely sealed off for the last five days.   

The military, which has ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for 45 years, is under international pressure after scenes of the violence shocked the world. In addition to Gambari's visit, Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka also arrived on Sunday to probe the killing of a Japanese journalist by troops during a pro-democracy protest on Thursday.

The body of video journalist Kenji Nagai bore signs that he was shot at point-blank range and died almost instantly, according to his employer, who saw his remains in hospital. Japan is one of Myanmar's leading donors, but chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said that Tokyo would consider "some stern measures" against the regime.   

Yabunaka was expected to demand to meet top junta officials in Naypyidaw as well as with Aung San Suu Kyi. Although the 62-year-old democracy leader has been effectively silenced by the regime, she has again captured the international spotlight amid the pro-democracy protests.    In dramatic scenes a week ago, the opposition leader stepped out of her home in tears to greet Buddhist monks who marched past the house where she has been confined for most of the past 18 years.   

The protests first erupted in August after a massive hike in fuel prices, but escalated two weeks ago with the emergence of the Buddhist monks on the front line and drew up to 100,000 people onto the streets last week.