SENIOR U.N. OFFICIAL IN BURMA

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Senior U.N. official visits Burma 
08:57 a.m. May 07, 1997 Eastern 

RANGOON, May 7 (Reuter) - United Nations Assistant Secretary General Alvaro
de Soto arrived
in Burma on Wednesday for a four-day visit, a U.N. official said. 

De Soto, who last visited Burma in August 1995, was expected to meet with
leaders from the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi. 

``Mr de Soto will try to meet SLORC leaders and dissident leader Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi
separately before he leaves Yangon (Rangoon) on May 10,'' the U.N. official
told Reuters. 

De Soto's last visit came only one month after Suu Kyi was released from six
years of house arrest. 

He has held several rounds of talks with Rangoon's military leaders on
Burma's human rights
situation. 

The SLORC has been accused by the United Nations and many Western
governments of commiting
human rights abuses such as summary executions, forced labour and arbitrary
arrests of opposition
politicians and supporters. 

Government officials were not immediately available for comment on de Soto's
visit. ^REUTER@