Junta leader, UN envoy meet briefly

Junta leader, UN envoy meet briefly

MYANMAR: UN envoy Razali Ismail met with Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe on Thursday in talks critical to the diplomat's efforts to revitalize a stalled reconciliation process, officials said.

Razali, who warned recently he would quit if the junta failed to make progress on democratic reforms, had planned to confront Than Shwe over a broken promise to begin a dialog with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

But in an indication that little was achieved, the meeting, which was also attended by junta number-two, Deputy Senior Gen. Maung Aye and number-three Gen. Khin Nyunt, lasted just 15 minutes, official sources said.

Razali was tightlipped after the meeting, saying only that he had canceled a visit to the northeastern Shan state planned for Friday where he was scheduled to see National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi. --AFP