UN ENVOY RETURNS
United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is flying back to Asia this weekend to brief regional governments, and hopes to wind up his trip with another visit to Burma before the end of the month.
On his last trip, Gambari was given a rare audience with Senior General Than Shwe as well as two short meetings with detained opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta has also appointed a big-hitting minister to act as a go-between with Suu Kyi -- whom Than Shwe is widely know to loathe -- raising hopes that the generals might be contemplating serious talks and possible democratic reform.
However, the tone of its response to an unprecedented rebuke this week from the U.N. Security Council, which "strongly deplored" the military crackdown against Buddhist monks and civilians, suggests otherwise.
Official media described the council's statement as "regrettable" and said it was "totally disregarding the fact that the situation in Burma does not represent a threat to the regional and international peace and security".
Despite the strong words at the U.N., veto-wielder China has made it clear it will not allow any formal action such as sanctions to be taken against Burma, where Beijing is lining up deals to buy huge reserves of natural gas.
India, another energy-hungry regional giant, is equally reluctant to act, and the army-appointed government in Thailand, which buys $2 billion of Burma gas each year -- also said it would not be taking any concrete measures against its neighbour.
"As a Buddhist country, we disagreed with the violence dealt out by the Burma government, especially against the monks," Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said in a weekly television address on Saturday.
"But if we do anything that will cause bad feelings with our neighbour, that will be problematic for the new elected government," he said. "I think we could pressure them more if we are not an appointed government."
