NEWS-UN Envoy to Meet Myanmar Junta

[Philip.Mccracken@xxxxxxxxxxx]

UN Envoy to Meet Myanmar Junta Leaders, Suu Kyi

               Reuters
               19-JAN-98

               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.