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UN chief 'disappointed' with Myanmar leader

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-06 10:11

YANGON: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ended a mission to Myanmar saying he was "deeply disappointed" that the isolated nation's top military ruler denied him a visit to jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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In two days of rare talks with Senior General Than Shwe, the UN chief urged the reclusive 76-year-old leader to release Suu Kyi and other political prisoners ahead of elections scheduled for next year.

But their meetings on Friday and Saturday in Naypyitaw, the junta's remote administrative capital, left Ban saying that his diplomatic gambit had produced no immediate results and amounted to "a setback to the international community's efforts to provide a helping hand to Myanmar".

"I am deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity," Ban said.

Suu Kyi has been detained by the ruling generals for nearly 14 of the past 20 years and is now on trial charged with violating her house arrest.

"I pressed as hard as I could" to see Suu Kyi, Ban said after meeting with Than Shwe. "I had hoped that he would agree to my request, but it is regrettable that he did not."

Ban said Than Shwe expressed a commitment to hold credible elections sometime in 2010. "He was saying that after that he will hand over power to civilians," he said.

AP