UN to bridge Myanmar's divide

UN to bridge Myanmar's divide

MYANMAR: UN envoy Razali Ismail met on Wednesday with a top official in the ruling junta and was also due to see pro- democracy leaders as he pushed a new proposal to bridge Myanmar's bitter political divide.

Razali held talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar's Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt on Tuesday at the start of his 12th mission to the military-run state.

On Wednesday he met with Home Minister Tin Hlaing, official sources said, as he pursued a plan for the United Nations to become more closely involved with the junta's "road map" to democracy, which is expected to begin this year.

Razali was also scheduled to see five leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) who were taken into detention along with her last May but subsequently freed, party sources said.

Four other members of the NLD's decision-making Central Executive Committee who were detained during the crackdown on the party remain under house arrest, including Aung San Suu Kyi who is confined to her lakeside residence.

Razali has told political leaders in Yangon that he expects to see the Nobel peace laureate once more before concluding his low- profile visit which is believed to run until Thursday. --AFP