UN envoy arrives in Myanmar amidst row

YANGON, Saturday (AFP) - The UN's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Yangon today for talks with the country's ruling generals amid a row over the threatened expulsion of another key diplomat. Gambari's visit comes amid conflicting signals from the junta over its willingness to reform, in the wake of mass street protests against the ruling regime here that led to at least 13 deaths and the detention of thousands.

Myanmar's ruling generals abruptly announced late Friday that the mission of the UN's most senior official in Yangon, Charles Petrie, will not be renewed. The junta also cut Internet links in the isolated country on Thursday, restricting access to international websites in an apparent bid to limit the flow of information before and during Gambari's visit.

The regime's latest heavy-handed gestures have blunted early optimism over Gambari's arrival, following this week's release of 165 people arrested during September's wave of protests. The move to expel Petrie from Myanmar, where he has worked since 2003, could complicate Gambari's already difficult mission, with some warning that the row will sidetrack his reform discussions with the junta.

“The danger is that Gambari will spend his time talking about the UN's role in Burma instead of the need to end the crackdown and bring real reform,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for the New York-based pressure Human rights Watch. The inclusion of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the political process is largely seen as crucial for Myanmar's gradual transition to democracy.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest, and with other NLD officials in prison the party has been excluded from any debate over Myanmar's future. Current ASEAN-bloc chair Singapore said today it was “deeply disappointed” by Myanmar's decision on Petrie, while the United States, one of junta's staunchest critics, said it was outraged.

“I hope that this is not an effort by the regime to deflect from the mission” of Gambari, said the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad. A UN spokeswoman said the organisation has “full confidence” in Petrie and his team, and that it has instructed Gambari to raise the issue with the Myanmar government.

Ahead of the envoy's arrival, some experts said the international scrutiny faced by the junta since the crackdown could pave the way for a meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and the regime's top general Than Shwe, a key demand of the international community.