Military-ruled Myanmar sent UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to a pro-government rally, as he waited for a fourth day to meet with junta chief Than Shwe.
LASHIO( Myanmar): Military-ruled Myanmar sent UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to a pro-government rally on Tuesday in a remote corner of the country, as he waited for a fourth day to meet with junta chief Than Shwe.
Gambari was taken on Monday to the mountainous town of Lashio in northeastern Myanmar, where he was taken on a helicopter ride to tour the region that was once a war zone run by ethnic rebels and drug lords.
Early Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu brought the Nigerian-born envoy to a sports ground where tens of thousands of people sat in plastic chairs and listened quietly as officials praised the junta's so-called "roadmap" to democracy. Most of the crowd were members of local ethnic minority groups, kitted out in colourful traditional dress under overcast skies.
Some in the crowd appeared to doze off during the early morning rally. Many in the crowd spoke only their tribal language and were unable to understand the speeches given in the majority Myanmar language, witnesses said.
The government has orchestrated similar events across the country to tout its drafting of a new constitution. An outline of the charter was produced in August after more than a decade of work, but the junta has yet to start work on a final draft or to set a date for elections.
"Myanmar is poised to introduce a new political system that will ensure that the next constitutionally elected government cannot be manipulated by anyone inside or outside the country," one speaker told the crowd.
Some at the rally were given banners denouncing foreign media, which the military has accused of stoking the unrest, witnesses said.
Gambari stayed only about 10 minutes, and was expected to head to the military's isolated capital Naypyidaw for a third time since Saturday in hopes of meeting with Than Shwe. He has already been allowed to meet with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as senior officials, but the government has dragged its feet in arranging talks with the military supremo.
Gambari was sent to Myanmar to express global outrage over the military's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests that left at least 13 dead and an estimated 1,000 in detention.
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