UN Envoy on Burma Gives White House Briefing

By VOA News 17 December 2007

Ibrahim Gambari (r) meets at the White House with Laura Bush, 16 Dec 2007

The United Nations' special envoy to Burma has made a visit to Washington.

Envoy Ibrahim Gambari met Monday at the White House with First Lady Laura Bush and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.

The United Nations says they discussed ongoing U.N. efforts to promote democratic change in Burma.

Gambari is scheduled to give a briefing on his efforts to a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

In a resolution adopted last Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva called on Burma's ruling military to lift restraints on peaceful political activity.

The 47-member Council also said it plans to send its special envoy, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, back to Burma to report on what has happened since the September crackdown.

Pinheiro told VOA last week that he was disappointed at the Burmese government's reaction to a report he presented to the UNHRC. In that report, he said at least 31 people were killed in the Burmese government's crackdown on demonstrators.

Burma has rejected Pinheiro's findings and claims that less than half that number of people were killed.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.