Struggling against Burma's stubborn generals and neighboring nations skeptical of sanctions, a U.N. envoy returned to the region Sunday to push for negotiations between the military junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Ibrahim Gambari, once foreign minister for a Nigerian military government, is due to begin talks today with officials in Thailand before visiting Malaysia and Indonesia. All three belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is against imposing more sanctions on fellow member Burma.
Gambari also is scheduled to visit regional powers India, China and Japan before returning to Burma for his second round of crisis meetings in two weeks.Speeded-up diplomacy
He had planned to return to Burma in mid-November, but U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told him to speed up the mediation initiative after the U.N. Security Council unanimously said last week that it strongly deplores a violent crackdown that began in September.
Read More
