Mystery surrounds U.N. envoy in Myanmar

Whereabouts of Ibrahim Gambari unknown after he flies to jungle capital

Myanmar residents in Japan carry candles Sunday during a demonstration against the crackdown on demonstrations in military-ruled Myanmar.

YANGON, Myanmar - Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Monday after he flew to Myanmar’s new jungle capital to persuade the junta to end its crackdown on the biggest pro-democracy protests in 20 years.

One diplomatic source said Gambari was being made to wait until Tuesday to meet junta supremo Senior Gen. Than Shwe, and with the streets of Yangon quiet on Monday, had gone on a trip to Lashio, in the hills of Shan state, near the Chinese border.

No reasons for the destination were offered, although one Bangkok-based diplomat said a small group of traveling European academics was in the capital, Naypyidaw, 240 miles north of Yangon, and due in Lashio on Tuesday.

United Nations officials with Gambari were outside mobile phone coverage, the U.N. office in Yangon had not heard a word, and no other diplomats in the former capital could shed any light on his whereabouts.

The delay does not augur well for Gambari’s mission, hastily arranged last week when the junta sent in soldiers to crush more than a week of monk-led mass protests against decades of military rule and deepening poverty in the former Burma.

Than Shwe, the 74-year-old senior general, is frequently rumored to be in poor health but — more ominously — has a well-deserved reputation as military hardliner who pays scant regard to the cares and concerns of the outside world.

'Minimalist'
The only certain thing about Gambari, a former Nigerian foreign minister, is that he was still in the country 48 hours after his arrival, a prospect that did not look likely when he arrived.

British ambassador Mark Canning said China had pushed for Gambari’s mission to be as long and as far-reaching as possible, getting permission for him to fly to Naypyidaw where he met the acting prime minister and information and cultural ministers.

He then returned to Yangon for an hour's meeting with opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest and incommunicado for nearly 12 of the last 18 years.

His immediate return to Naypyidaw sparked hopes of the seeds of “shuttle diplomacy” between a military that has been in charge for the last 45 years, and Suu Kyi’s democracy camp.

“There’s been an evolution in his program. The initial pitch was minimalist. It’s got a bit better, and we want to see it get better still,” Canning told Reuters.

Determined to meet junta leader
The U.N. made clear on Sunday that Gambari did not plan to leave without seeing Than Shwe, whose troops are stationed on street corners across Yangon, making it impossible even for small crowds of demonstrators to assemble.

In a sign the junta was confident it had squeezed the life out of the uprising, barbed-wire barricades were removed from the Shewdagon Pagoda, rallying point for monks leading the marches.

Soldiers and government security men, however, were searching bags and people for cameras, and the Internet, through which images of the crackdown have reached the world, remained cut.

State-run media say order was restored “with care, using the least possible force,” but soldiers continued to be stationed at the four corners of Shwedagon, the country’s holiest Buddhist shrine, as well as the Sule Pagoda, the other focal point of the rallies.

Having raided more than a dozen monasteries and hauled off at least 700 monks, soldiers and riot police are penning the rest behind the monastery walls, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission.

The protests began in mid-August with small marches against fuel price rises but intensified when soldiers fired over the heads of protesting monks, causing monasteries to mobilize.

The military crackdown prompted criticism even from China, the closest the junta has to an ally, and condemnation from the Association of South East Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member.

Among 10 people the junta says were killed was a Japanese video journalist, Kenji Nagai, 50, who was shot when troops opened fire on a crowd of chanting protesters. His death has added to the international outrage.

A Japanese envoy has arrived to ensure a full investigation into his death, although Tokyo says the small video camera he was clutching as he died near the Sule Pagoda was missing from items returned by Myanmar officials.

Footage smuggled out of the country appeared to show a soldier shooting Nagai at point-blank range.

Western governments say the death toll is probably far higher than officially acknowledged.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21055751/

Fact file Myanmar's junta

A look at the insular military leadership behind the crackdown in Myanmar:

David Longstreath / AP Myanmar junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe Who they are First among equals in the current regime is Senior Gen. Than Shwe. He is said to be superstitious and to consult with astrologers, but otherwise has a public image that is taciturn in the extreme. No. 2 is Deputy Senior Gen. Maung Aye, whose reputation is, if anything, more ruthless than Than Shwe’s, probably because he has more field combat experience from fighting ethnic rebels. Soldiers in the 400,000-strong military live secluded from civilian life in isolated barracks; their families are provided with housing as well. PhotoBlog: Discuss an image of Myanmar's junta Keystone / Getty Images General Ne Win How they came to power The State Peace and Development Council, as the ruling junta is formally known, replaced another dictatorship in 1988 after suppressing a pro-democracy uprising. The previous regime, led by Ne Win, destroyed what had been one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic economies, restricting tourist visas to one week and refusing all foreign investment. How they keep power Than Shwe’s government has opened up the country to foreign investment. Myanmar is rich in natural resources and has survived by cultivating investment in its potentially vast oil and gas reserves. Neighboring China and India curry favor with the junta because of Myanmar’s strategic location on the Indian Ocean and its oil and natural gas resources. China is the regime’s main ally, supplying the most diplomatic muscle at international forums. Sukree Sukplang / Reuters Aung San Suu Kyi Previous resistance to their rule In 1988, the army violently suppressed mass demonstrations against the military dictatorship, though some members of the air force changed sides and supported the protesters. Monk-led street protests threatened the junta’s power again after the government refused to accept the outcome of a 1990 vote, in which Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party won a landslide victory. The regime responded with several months of raids on hundreds of pagodas and the arrests of hundreds of monks.

Updated: 3:29 p.m. ET Sept. 30, 2007

© 2007 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21065812/

    The socio-political drama of the Myanmar military junta's brutal repression of democracy in that country continues with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari missing and unheard from the past two days. After meeting with democracy activist and opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, he is purportedly awaiting audience with the Myanmar junta leader, General Than Shwe. May Providence be with this UN envoy and former Nigerian foreign minister in his difficult diplomatic efforts in Myanmar (Burma).

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