U.N. envoy disappointed after latest visit to Myanmar

By Claudia Parsons

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. envoy said on Tuesday he was disappointed his latest visit to Myanmar yielded no tangible results but said it was important for the United Nations to keep engaging with authorities there.

Ibrahim Gambari, special adviser on Myanmar to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was reporting to the U.N. Security Council on a March 6-10 visit during which he met detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi twice but made no major progress in convincing the military junta to implement democratic reforms.

Gambari said he never expected his job to be smooth sailing. "Indeed, over time, my engagement with my interlocutors has been difficult, complex, frustrating, but nevertheless incremental and continuing," he said.

He said the government had committed to work with the United Nations, which would continue working "as partners" with the government and people of Myanmar.

Gambari said during the visit he was not able to meet senior government leadership figures or opposition groups such as the "88 Generation" or representatives of ethnic groups.

"It is a source of disappointment that this latest visit did not yield any immediate tangible outcome," he said.

Gambari's visit was this third to the former Burma since authorities brutally crushed pro-democracy marches in September in a crackdown that sparked worldwide outrage and a major diplomatic push for political reform in the former British colony, which has been under military rule since 1962.

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