"It is a huge breakthrough," Yvonne Terlingen, U.N. representative for Amnesty International, told AP Wednesday night. "It is unprecedented that the Security Council made a statement about human rights in Myanmar - and that is very important."

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters after the meeting that the most important thing is to see that the Myanmar authorities "restore stability," and to get Gambari into the country as soon as possible.

"China is a neighbor to Myanmar, so we more than anyone else wish to see that Myanmar will achieve stability, national reconciliation, and we want to see them making progress on the road of democratization," he said. "We hope that the government and people there could just sort out their differences."

Wang said that he believed sanctions would not be helpful. He added that "these problems now at this stage (do) not constitute a threat to international and regional peace and stability."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin supported the council statement, adding, "we are concerned about the developments and regret the loss of life."

In January, China and Russia cast a rare double veto on a U.S.-sponsored resolution calling on Myanmar's military government to release all political prisoners, speed up progress toward democracy and stop attacks against ethnic minorities.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States supported the statement and Gambari's mission. Asked about China's reaction, he said, "We have called on them to use their influence, and we hope that they will."

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide election victory. Since then, Suu Kyi has been in and out of detention, kept in near-solitary confinement at her home.

The current protests began Aug. 19 after the government hiked fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962. The protests were faltering when Buddhist monks took the lead last week.

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