Suu Kyi refused to meet UN envoy

BANGKOK (AFP) - Myanmar’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet with visiting UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, state television said Saturday, leaving him little to show for his six-day mission.

Gambari flew to Yangon hoping to revive talks between the Nobel Peace Prize winner and the military regime, but he was shunned by her and by the junta’s senior leadership.

Aung San Suu Kyi ignored pleas by two of Gambari’s aides for her to speak with him, state TV said, showing images of the pair waiting in vain outside the gate to her house, where she has been confined for most of the last 19 years.

“Although plans were made during Mr. Gambari’s visit for him to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi on August 20, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet him,” it said, using an honorific before her name.

The broadcast also showed Myanmar officials shouting into a megaphone, saying, “Mr. Gambari wants to meet you.”

But the report said Aung San Suu Kyi never acknowledged any of their efforts to speak with her.