envoy for yet another day, putting off the apparently onerous task of hearing international demands for an end to Myanmar's harsh crackdown on democracy advocates. As U.N. envoy Ibrabim Gambari is finding out, Senior Gen. Than Shwe does not bother with the usual diplomatic protocol and is not an easy man to meet.
Gambari, the U.N.'s special envoy to Myanmar, has been in Myanmar since Saturday with the express purpose of seeing Than Shwe, but the junta's top man has apparently been too busy.
Instead of the meeting that he had hoped for, Gambari was shipped up Monday to a remote northern town for an academic conference on EU-ASEAN relations, diplomats in Yangon reported, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.
The town of Lashio where the conference was held is 400 kilometers (240 miles) north of Naypyitaw, the secure, isolated city carved out of the jungle where Than Shwe moved the capital in 2005.
Gambari was granted an appointment Tuesday with Than Shwe in Naypyitaw, an Asian diplomat said. The United Nations itself made no mention of such a promise, but reiterated that Gambari "looks forward to meeting" Than Shwe before he leaves.
Diplomats said the envoy plans to leave the country Tuesday.
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States wants to see Gambari convey a clear message to the junta on behalf of the international community "about the need for Burma's leaders to engage in a real and serious political dialogue with all relative parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi."
Casey urged China, India and Myanmar's other neighbors to do more to pressure the junta to change.
In previous sparring with the United Nations and other international bodies, Myanmar's junta has repeatedly snubbed envoys and ignored diplomatic overtures.
In Yangon, troops removed roadblocks and shifted to the outskirts, apparently easing their stranglehold on the city, but riot police were still checking cars and buses and monitoring the city by helicopter.
Public anger ignited Aug. 19 after the government increased fuel prices, then shifted into mass protests led by Buddhist monks against 45 years of military dictatorship.
Soldiers responded last week by opening fire on unarmed demonstrators. The government says 10 people were killed but dissident groups say anywhere from several dozen people to as many as 200 died in the crackdown.
