Un Envoy To Meet Myanmar Junta Lead

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UN envoy to meet Myanmar junta leaders, Suu Kyi

YANGON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - A United Nations special envoy is due to arrive in
Myanmar (Burma) on Tuesday for talks with top leaders of the ruling military
junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, UN sources based here said on
Monday. 

Alvaro De Soto, assistant UN secretary-general, will urge the ruling State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to speed up the drafting of Myanmar's new
constitution and the holding of free and fair elections in the country, they
told Reuters. 

``During the visit, he will meet with the SPDC leaders and is expected to urge
the SPDC to speed up the process of drafting a new constitution and holding
free and fair elections again,'' a UN source told Reuters. 

De Soto's three day visit will also include discussions with Suu Kyi, leader
of the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), with which the
military has been at odds for some time now. 

Political analysts said he was expected to urge the two sides to talk to each
other. 

The NLD won a landslide victory in a 1990 election but the military junta
ignored the results, refused to hand over power to the election winner and
curbed Suu Kyi's activities since she was released from six years of house
arrest in 1995. 

The previous military government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), which changed its name to the SPDC late last year, created a National
Convention of appointed representatives to draft a new constitution in early
1993. 

But so far little progress has been made in the drafting of the constitution
and the convention has been dormant. 

De Soto last visited Myanmar in May, 1997 when he met Lieutenant General Khin
Nyunt, the powerful Secretary One of the then ruling SLORC. He then separately
met with Suu Kyi and other political leaders. 

His visit as special envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan follows Annan's
meeting with Myanmar premier Senior General Than Shwe at an ASEAN summit in
Kuala Lumpur, last December. 

``Kofi Annan told the media after his meeting with Than Shwe that one of the
goals of the UN General Assembly is to promote a dialogue between the SPDC and
NLD,'' a political analyst said. REUTERS 

01:48 01-19-