Burma: UN envoy meets top general as regime blames foreigners for violence

By MARCUS OSCARSSON
Last updated at 12:41 04 December 2007
UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has met Myanmar junta supremo Than Shwe today, to try
to persuade him to end a crackdown on the biggest democracy protests in 20 years.
The two met in the junta's remote new capital, Naypyitaw, two foreign diplomats said.
Also present were Than Shwe's no. 2, General Maung Aye, no. 3, General Thura Shwe Mann,
and acting Prime Minister Thein Sein, who's fourth in the hierarchy.
The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.
Slaughter: Executed monks have been
dumped in the jungle
While Gambari was trying to broker
peace, the junta's security forces
lightened their presence in Yangon, the
country's main city, which remained
quiet after troops and police brutally
quelled mass protests last week.
The 9 pm -to-5 am curfew was scaled
back to 10 pm to 4 am. Kept off the
streets, many residents launched a new
form of protest Monday evening by
switching off their lights and turning off
television sets from 8 pm - 8.15 pm
during the nightly government
newscast.
Dissident groups say up to 200
protesters were killed and 6,000
detained in the crackdown, compared to
the regime's report of 10 deaths.
"Normalcy has now returned in
Myanmar," Foreign Minister Nyan Win
told the UN General Assembly in New
York, adding that security forces acted
with restraint for a month but had to
"take action to restore the situation."
Nyan Win made no reference to the deaths. Instead, he blamed foreigners for the violence.
"Recent events make clear that there are elements within and outside the country who wish to
derail the ongoing process (toward democracy) so that they can take advantage of the chaos
that would follow," Nyan Win said.
Foreign Minister of Burma Nyan Win tells the UN in New York that foreigners are the cause
of his ruling junta's brutal crackdown on protestors
 "They have become more and more emboldened
and have stepped up their campaign to confront
the government," he said.
"The destiny of each and every country can only
be determined by its government and people," he
said. "It cannot be imposed from outside."
Nyan Win's comments indicated that the junta
would not give up its hardline position and is
willing to thumb its nose at international demands
to restore democracy and free pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
In Rangoon, despite agreeing to see Gambari, the
generals continued posting troops and police across the city and dispatching pro-junta gangs
to raid homes in search of monks and dissidents on the run.
"They are going from apartment
to apartment, shaking things
inside, threatening the people.
You have a climate of terror all
over the city," a Bangkok-based
Myanmar expert said.
US charge d'affaires Shari
Villarosa said arrests continued
unabated.
Tensions: People gather outside a
temple after a police raid today
APF News' president Toru
Yamaji pays his respects with
flowers in Rangoon to journalist Kenji Nagai
who was killed covering the pro-democracy
protests
"We have heard that arrests are continuing at
night, like at two o'clock in the morning. We've
heard it's the military.
"I don't who is doing it, but people are going
around in the middle of the night and taking
people away," she said.
"People are terrified. This government keeps
power through fear and intimidation and they
are trying to intimidate people to stay off the
streets."
Gambari flew to the former Burma's new jungle
capital to convey international outrage at last week's crushing of monk-led protests against
decades of military rule and deepening poverty.
After three days in the country, during which he met three minister-generals and opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, Gambari was told he would be
able to meet Senior General Than Shwe.
The UN Security Council, which endorsed the former Nigerian foreign minister's emergency
visit, is hoping the mission will kickstart some sort of dialogue between the junta - the latest
face of 45 years of military rule - and Suu Kyi.
After Than Shwe, Gambari was expected to have a second meeting with the 62-year-old
Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, kindling hopes of some sort of "shuttle diplomacy".
But as attempts at talks continue, it was revealed that thousands of monks detained in
Burma's biggest city will be sent to prisons in the far north.
About 4,000 monks have been rounded up in the past week as the military government has
tried to stamp out pro-democracy protests.
WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGE

Checkpoint: Police outside the house of opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi today
 Executed: The body of a Buddhist monk floats in a river
They are being held at a disused race course and a technical college.
Sources from a government-sponsored militia said they would soon be moved away from
Rangoon.
The detained monks have been disrobed and shackled, according to sources quoted by BBC
Radio's Burmese service.
The reports follow claims from a former intelligence officer in Burma's ruling junta that
thousands of protesters have been killed and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have
been dumped in the jungle.
Public anger ignited on August 19 after the government increased fuel prices, then shifted
into protests led by Buddhist monks against 45 years of military dictatorship.
Soldiers responded last week by opening fire on unarmed demonstrators. The demonstrations
have now died down.
Burma's junta leader Than Shwe yesterday stalled a UN envoy, putting off hearing
international demands for an end to the crackdown on democracy advocates.
News of the jailings comes after a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta
revealed the true extent of killings to clamp down on protests.
Protests: But monks have now left the streets as news of brutal suppression and killings
spreads
The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed
in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand."
Mr Win said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men.
His defection will raise a faint hope among tens of thousands of Burmese who have fled to
villages along the Thai border.
They will feel others in the army may follow him and turn on their ageing leaders, Senior
General Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Senior General Maung Aye.
Source: Daily Mail Co UK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-484903/Burma-UN-envoy-meets-general-
regime-blames-foreigners-violence.html#