of concern about Myanmar's violent crackdown on Buddhist monks and urged the military regime to let in a special envoy. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, was expected to leave for the region Wednesday night after briefing the emergency council meeting in the afternoon on the fatal violence.
Council diplomats said China, which has close economic ties to Myanmar, did not want any document issued after the closed-door session but relented and agreed to a brief statement, which was read to reporters by France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert.
"Members of the council have expressed their concern vis a vis the situation, and have urged restraint, especially from the government of Myanmar," the statement said.
The junta's forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in the center of the country's largest city, Yangon, killing at least one person. Dissident groups have claimed the casualty count is higher, with as many as five people killed, including monks.
Ban called on Myanmar's government to exercise its "utmost restraint" and later met one-on-one with Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win. On the way to the meeting, a reporter asked about the five reported deaths and Win replied: "You asked if five people died and we said no."
The council's statement said it "welcomed the decision by the secretary-general to urgently dispatch his special envoy to the region and underlines the importance that Mr. Gambari be received by the authorities of Myanmar as soon as possible."
Indonesia's new U.N. Ambassador Marty Natalegawa said Myanmar was not on the agenda of a ministerial meeting Thursday of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, on the sidelines of the high-level U.N. General Assembly session, but the violence was likely to come up. Myanmar is a member of the 10-nation group.
The United States and the council's European Union members - Britain, France, Italy and Belgium - had condemned the attacks and called on the country's military rulers to stop the violence and open a dialogue with pro-democracy leaders.
"What's going on in Burma is outrageous," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after a luncheon meeting of ministers from the eight major industrialized nations. "The regime needs to stop using violence against peaceful people and get to a dialogue so that they can have reconciliation."
