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NEWS - UN Official to Visit Myanmar



Subject: NEWS - UN Official to Visit Myanmar next Week

UN Official to Visit Myanmar next Week

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A senior U.N. official heads to Myanmar next
week in another attempt to promote a dialogue between the country's
military government and the opposition, U.N. officials said. 

Alvaro de Soto, an assistant secretary-general for political affairs,
who has visited the country about five times, said Monday he was still
working out precise dates for the trip as an emissary of
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. 

The U.N. General Assembly has asked Annan to try and end the country's
isolation by persuading the government to negotiate with the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Peace Prize winner
Aung San Suu Kyi. 

The General Assembly has condemned Myanmar, formerly Burma, for severe
human rights violations ranging from forced labor to torture of
prisoners, mainly students, professionals and academics. 

The government earlier this year postponed a visit by De Soto but gave
no reasons for it. New arrangements were worked out last month when
Myanmar's foreign minister, Win Aung, attended the annual General
Assembly debate, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said. 

De Soto last visited Myanmar a year ago at which time he raised the
possibility of World Bank development aid if the government initiated a
dialogue with the opposition. 

So far the military junta has refused to negotiate with Suu Kyi's party
unless she disbands a committee designed to represent parliament, a
challenge to its rule. 

The NLD won the country's last election in 1990 but the military ignored
the results and has since tried to silence the party through arrests and
intimidation.