UN: The first UN official to visit Burma (also known as Myanmar) in two years said on Wednesday he had asked the military government to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and that the junta may be ready to re-engage with the world.
Undersecretary-general Ibra- him Gambari met Ms Suu Kyi for about 45 minutes last week during a three-day visit to the isolated country.
Ms Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, has been held in prison and under house arrest for more than 10 of the last 17 years. Her latest term of detention ends tomorrow. Authorities have previously renewed the term when it expired, but Mr Gambari said the government may be considering her release.
"There seems to be a willingness to turn a new page in its relationship with the international community," he said of Burma's ruling junta. "What better way to show it than to release her?"
Mr Gambari said the government did not promise to release Ms Suu Kyi and wouldn't disclose how Gen Than Shwe, the head of the junta, responded to UN secretary general Kofi Annan's appeal to free her. But he called "significant" a statement by Burma's police chief, Maj Gen Khin Yi, that Ms Suu Kyi may no longer pose a threat to the regime's stability because her following had dwindled.
Mr Gambari's visit, brokered in part by China, was a breakthrough after two years without access to the country. The previous UN special envoy, Razali Ismail, resigned in frustration earlier this year after the government blocked his repeated attempts to visit.
But mounting pressure from the US and the regional group of southeast Asian countries, combined with the prospect that the UN Security Council might consider imposing sanctions against Burma, helped persuade the government to open the door a crack.
Last week, President Bush extended financial and other US sanctions against Burma that have been in place since 1997.
However, on Tuesday, assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill said during a meeting in Bangkok that Washington is ready to improve relations with the nation if the ruling military party moves toward releasing political prisoners, especially Ms Suu Kyi.
Democracy activists say the regime is holding more than 1,100 political prisoners, including some who have been detained for many years. "We have called for the release of the many hundreds, even thousands, of political prisoners. We've called for a resumption of dialogue," Mr Hill said. "If we see a movement in this direction, if we see an effort, of course we'll respond." Mr Gambari also came with the message that the UN is ready to help Burma with HIV/Aids prevention, public health, agriculture, and other development issues.
Of his meeting with Ms Suu Kyi, Mr Gambari said she appeared well, but that she wanted to see her doctor more often. Her doctor is the only person allowed to visit her.
"I am not a medical doctor, but I said, 'Are you well? Can I say you are well?'" Mr Gambari said. "She said yes, but said she would like her visits from her doctor to be more frequent and regular."
Ms Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese independence leader Gen Aung San, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring about peaceful change in her country. Her current period of detention began in May 2003 after a pro-government crowd attacked her motorcade in an apparent attempt to assassinate her.
She is being held at her family home in Yangon, the former capital. She is the only Nobel Peace Prize winner in detention anywhere in the world.