UN inspector visits Myanmar

UN inspector visits Myanmar

YANGON (AP): A United Nations inspector of human rights met
with Myanmar opposition members on Wednesday and visited a gas
pipeline project where activists claim forced labor was used.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the first UN human rights rapporteur to
be allowed into the military state in five years, flew to Kanbauk
in southern Myanmar to see the pipeline project, said an employee
of Premier Oil.

Kanbauk, 300 kilometers southeast of Yangon, is the starting
point on the land portion of a gas pipeline that carries natural
gas from the offshore rigs in the Andaman Sea to Thailand.

Companies operating there include Premier Oil of Britain,
U.S.-based UNOCAL and Total of France.