U.N. envoy leaves Myanmar, fails to meet Suu Kyi

23/08/2008

YANGON (Reuters) – A U.N. envoy left Myanmar on Saturday after failing to meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi or coax concessions from the military junta during his six-day mission, diplomats said.

Ibrahim Gambari, on his sixth visit as part of a U.N. push for reforms in the former Burma, extended his trip by one day in hopes of meeting the Nobel laureate, but it did not happen.

Gambari, who briefed diplomats before leaving the former capital Yangon, gave no reasons why Suu Kyi did not meet with him as she had done during past visits.

"He said he raised some points with the government and hoped to return. In terms of concrete outcomes, there was not much," said one Western diplomat who declined to be named.

Gambari, who met Prime Minister Thein Sein on Saturday but did not get an audience with junta leader Senior General Than Shwe during his visit, told the diplomats he had again urged the government to release some 2,000 political prisoners and begin a proper dialogue with the opposition.