Tue Oct 9, 7:43 PM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's opposition on Tuesday cautiously welcomed moves by the junta towards dialogue with its leader Aung San Suu Kyi but insisted that any offer should come with no strings attached.

With the United Nations weighing up a statement criticising the government, junta chief Senior General Than Shwe named deputy labour minister Aung Kyi to build "smooth relations" with the detained opposition leader.

The appointment of Aung Kyi, a general with a reputation as a moderate, who has a track record of dealing with the United Nations, is the latest in a series of small gestures apparently aimed at appeasing UN member states.

The junta last week said that Than Shwe was willing to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years, albeit with strict conditions attached, including that she drop support for sanctions.

"Finding a solution through dialogue is the natural way to help the people and the country," the National League for Democracy (NLD) said in a statement.

"A willingness to hold dialogue is the main way to solve the problems now facing the country," it added.

But it also said: "There are no preconditions if they really want to solve the problems through dialogue."

The party, which won elections in 1990 yet was never allowed to govern, also denied that Aung San Suu Kyi had called for economic sanctions, although she has publicly discouraged foreign investment.

Some analysts questioned whether the junta's gestures would be enough, saying the situation in Myanmar -- ruled by the military since 1962 -- remained largely unchanged.

"I think they recognise they have to do something without really giving up any power, they have to make a public gesture," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert from Georgetown University in the United States.

"But it does not amount to anything right now given the leadership... I would say right now it is the status quo, with a few frills attached."

The official New Light of Myanmar paper said the appointment of a liaison official for Aung San Suu Kyi was suggested by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his mission here last week.

A bloody junta crackdown on peaceful protests led by monks in Yangon last month left at least 13 people dead and roused an international outcry.

The United States, France and Britain are pushing for a UN Security Council statement this week condemning the regime, but Myanmar's ally China is leading a drive to soften its tone.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Tuesday said that Beijing opposed any strong pressure against Myanmar, which it warned could exacerbate tensions.

"Sanctions or pressure will not help to resolve the issues," he said.

In an apparent attempt to forestall any punitive UN action, the junta has made a series of conciliatory moves.

Over the weekend, state media trumpeted the release of nearly half of the more than 2,100 people arrested during September's rallies, and said the military had donated thousands of dollars as well as food and medicines to monasteries.

But the junta's tough talking in its mouthpiece the New Light of Myanmar on Tuesday demonstrated that conditions on the ground remained oppressive.

The paper warned that nearly 1,000 people still being held over the protests could face jail sentences.

"Anyone who is detained for his violation of law must be charged and serve prison terms if he is found guilty," it said.

It also accused pro-democracy protesters of derailing the economy of the impoverished nation, saying the mass rallies "made the people poorer" because restaurants and shops had to be closed.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that a diplomat at Myanmar's London embassy has resigned to protest the "appalling" crackdown.

Ye Min Tun, a second secretary at the embassy, according to British government records, said Myanmar's military leaders had ignored the people's wish to negotiate.

The protests began in mid-August over outrage at an overnight hike in fuel prices that left many commuters unable even to afford the bus fare to work.

But the movement took off in late September when Buddhist monks led up to 100,000 supporters onto the streets in peaceful marches that became the most potent threat to the regime in almost two decades.

The protesters were only silenced when the junta unleashed baton charges, tear gas and live rounds.

Tue Oct 9, 7:22 PM ET

WASHINGTON - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called first lady Laura Bush on Tuesday to thank her for her support for the people of Myanmar and to keep international attention on the crisis there, the White House said.

The United Nations will continue to pressure the military junta in Myanmar, also called Burma, to end its crackdown on protests and to stop arresting those participating in nonviolent demonstrations, Ban told the first lady.

"Mrs. Bush expressed her hope that the international community will help to effect positive and peaceful change in Burma," her press secretary, Sally McDonough, said in a statement.

Ban also reported that the military regime had appointed a senior official to begin a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's popularly elected National League for Democracy Party.

"Mrs. Bush believes that the regime's appointment ... will be seen as a genuine effort toward national reconciliation when they release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners," McDonough said.

Tue Oct 9, 6:34 PM ET

YANGON, Myanmar - The party of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi called Tuesday for talks with Myanmar's military regime following a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters, but it urged the junta not to set conditions for any meetings.

The junta's top general offered earlier this week to meet with Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest. But he said she must first renounce her calls for international sanctions against the regime, which has been widely condemned for crushing the protests last month.

"The success of a dialogue is based on sincerity and the spirit of give and take," Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy said in a statement, which was based on her past speeches. "The will for achieving success is also crucial and there should not be any preconditions."

In its first comment since the regime held up the prospect of talks, the party appeared to be trying to encourage negotiations without abandoning its platform. The party emphasized past statements by Suu Kyi, but also said it could make "adjustments" for the sake of dialogue.

On Monday, state media said the regime had appointed Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi as the Cabinet's "minister for relations" to coordinate contacts with Suu Kyi. He is considered more open than top junta leaders, who are deeply insular and fiercely hostile toward Suu Kyi.

The Southeast Asian country has been ruled by the military since 1962, and protests that broke out in August over a fuel price hike quickly ballooned into mass demonstrations calling for democracy when widely respected Buddhist monks began spearheading daily marches.

Troops crushed the protests by shooting at demonstrators Sept. 26-27. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll at up to 200 and say thousands of people have been arrested.

The brutal crackdown ignited outrage around the globe, and international demands have grown for the junta to release the 62-year-old Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years without trial.

The government said last week that the junta's leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, was willing to meet personally with Suu Kyi if she met its conditions. Than Shwe has met with Suu Kyi only once, in 2002, and the talks quickly broke down.

Although it named a liaison official to deal with Suu Kyi, the junta did not indicate when he might meet with her.

The appointment of Aung Kyi, a retired major general, appeared to be a nod to the United Nations. The world body's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, suggested creating the Cabinet-level job during his visit to Myanmar last week, state media said.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations circulated a draft statement late Tuesday that would have the Security Council strongly deplore "the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions."

The statement also urges the junta to stop all "repressive measures," including the detention of protesters, and open a dialogue with the various political and ethnic groups.

Western nations are trying to find a consensus position acceptable to China and Russia, which have blocked previous resolutions on the grounds that Myanmar's political unrest is an internal matter and not a threat to security in its region.

The head of the U.N. Human Rights Council appealed to junta Tuesday to allow a visit by the body's Myanmar specialist, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who has been barred from the country since 2003.

Romanian Ambassador Doru-Romulus Costea, who presides over the council, said it wants Pinheiro to go to Myanmar as soon as possible to assess the human rights situation.

Tue Oct 9, 7:17 AM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's main opposition gave a cautious welcome on Tuesday to the junta naming its main trouble-shooter as "Minister of Relations" to act as a go-between with detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, in its first response to a highly conditional offer from Senior General Than Shwe for unspecified talks, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party said any negotiations should have no prior strings attached.

"If dialogue is to be held with true desire to find a solution, preconditions are not set," the NLD, which won a massive election landslide in 1990 only to be denied power by the army, said in a statement.

However, party spokesman Nyan Win described the appointment of Aung Kyi -- a big hitter in the regime despite being only a deputy labor minister -- as liaison between Suu Kyi and the former Burma's ruling generals as "a good sign."

"It shows they seem to have become a little more pragmatic," he said.

Those who know Aung Kyi said he would be more than an errand boy, suggesting that after crushing the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years, the junta might be showing a rare willingness to listen to its opponents and critics.

"He's serious, he's senior and he's been sent in to difficult situations before to resolve them and trouble shoot," a former Yangon-based official of the International labor Organization (ILO) said.

"He's not a stonewaller. He's someone who's sent in to fix problems, and he seems like a very good choice if you do want to have a credible dialogue," said the ILO official, who dealt with Aung Kyi directly in a bid to curb the use of forced labor.

"UTTER DEVASTATION?"

After last month's protests against decades of military rule and deepening poverty, Senior General Than Shwe offered direct talks with Suu Kyi if she ended her "confrontation," support for sanctions and "utter devastation" -- a term not clarified.

However, critics said Than Shwe had no intention of ever talking to a woman he is known to loathe, and that the proposal was just a sop to the international outrage at the military crackdown, in which at least 10 people were killed.

Even China, the closest the junta has to a friend, issued a rare call for restraint when the troops moved in to end the biggest anti-junta movement since a 1988 uprising that was eventually crushed with the loss of an estimated 3,000 lives.

However, Beijing underscored its opposition to U.N. sanctions on Tuesday, saying any international response should be "extremely prudent and responsible."

India, another energy-hungry regional giant with its eyes on Myanmar's huge natural gas reserves, has also come under fire for appearing to ignore the protests, which started in mid-August against shock increases in fuel prices.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee's word-for-word repetition on Sunday of a speech he gave four months ago about the need for closer ties with the generals is being seen as proof of uncompromising real politics in New Delhi.

Suu Kyi, a 62-year-old Nobel laureate, remains under house arrest and incommunicado, as she has been for nearly 12 of the last 18 years. An editorial in Myanmar state newspapers on Monday suggested any release was a dim and distant prospect.

During her previous periods of isolation she has had other "liaison officers" whose mediation with the junta came to naught.

Given the frequency with which optimists have been proved wrong, other analysts cautioned against seeing Aung Kyi's role as leading to talks on restoring a semblance of civilian authority in a country crippled by 45 years of military rule.

"It's too early to assess this gambit by the regime," said a retired professor in Yangon, who asked not to be named. "It comes at a time of mounting pressure from the international community. We need to wait for further movement."

Tue Oct 9, 12:27 AM ET

YANGON, Myanmar - The ruling junta appointed a Cabinet official Monday to coordinate contacts with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a move that comes with Myanmar under intense international pressure to enter talks with the democracy movement.

Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi, a retired major general, was named to the post of "liaison minister," state radio and television said Monday night.

On Tuesday, the junta said it hoped to achieve "smooth relations" with Suu Kyi. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece of the junta, printed a brief official announcement on its front page saying that Kyi had been appointed "minister for relations" to coordinate contacts with Suu Kyi, the country's democracy icon.

The appointment was suggested by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his visit to Myanmar earlier this month, the statement said. It added that the junta had accepted the idea "in respect of Gambari's recommendation and in view of smooth relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

Aung Kyi's exact duties were not detailed, and the announcement did not say when he might meet with the 62-year-old Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years without trial.

But it appeared Aung Kyi would coordinate all of Suu Kyi's contacts with both the regime and the United Nations, which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracy advocates and a military that has ruled since 1962.

Aung Kyi has a reputation among foreign diplomats, U.N. officials and aid groups as being relatively accessible and reasonable compared to top junta leaders, who are highly suspicious of outsiders. He has had the delicate task of dealing with the International Labor Organization, which accuses the junta of using forced labor.

The government announced last week that the junta's leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, was willing to meet personally with Suu Kyi, but only if she met certain conditions, including renouncing support for economic sanctions by foreign countries against the junta.

It remains unknown if Suu Kyi would accept the offer, which also called on her to give up what the junta said were her efforts backing "confrontation" and "utter devastation." The regime accuses her and her party of working with other nations to sabotage its own plans for a phased return to democracy.

Than Shwe has only met with Suu Kyi once before, in 2002, and the talks quickly broke down.

The appointment of a liaison officer was suggested by Gambari during his visit to Myanmar last week, the announcement on state media said. Gambari met with both top junta officials and Suu Kyi.

Gambari's trip to the Southeast Asian nation also known as Burma came after troops quelled democracy protests with gunfire. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the death toll at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including thousands of monks who were leading the demonstrations.

The government has continued to round up suspected activists, although some people have been released.

Security continued to ease in Yangon, the country's biggest city. Some roadblocks were removed and visitors began trickling back to the heavily guarded Shwedagon and Sule pagodas, the starting and finishing points for many of the protests.

But some residents have engaged in a low-key resistance to the military in recent days, harassing soldiers by tossing rocks at them at night, student activists claimed Monday.

They said troops had responded by detaining suspects and even suspects' relatives, including children, said the activists, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest.

Protests erupted Aug. 19 over the government raising fuel prices, but anger mushroomed into broad-based marches by tens of thousands demanding democratic reforms.

On Monday, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar said protesters could achieve their demands — including Suu Kyi's release — by following the military government's own seven-step "road map" agenda for restoring democracy.

"The three demands of the protesters — lowering consumer prices, release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, and national reconciliation — cannot be satisfied through protest," the English-language paper said, using the polite term for addressing older women in front of Suu Kyi's name.

"When the state constitution is approved, the fulfillment of the three demands will be within reach," said the commentary in New Light of Myanmar, which is a mouthpiece for the government but often represents extreme points of view that are not official policy.

The road map process is supposed to culminate in a general election at an unspecified date in the future. But so far only the first stage — drawing up guidelines for a new constitution — has been completed, and government critics say the convention that drafted them was stage-managed by the military.

Drafting the constitution is supposed to be the next stage, and the document would then be put to a national referendum. The previous constitution was suspended in 1988 when the military crushed a democracy uprising by killing as many as 3,000 people.

The junta then allowed elections in 1990, but nullified the vote after Suu Kyi's party won.

Mon Oct 8, 9:09 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - China on Monday spearheaded a move in the UN Security Council to soften a Western-sponsored statement on the military crackdown in Myanmar amid broad agreement on the need for ending the violence and freeing political prisoners.

Experts from the council's 15 members huddled behind closed doors for nearly three hours in "a constructive atmosphere" and the sponsors agreed to come up with a revised text taking into account of the amendments, said a delegate from Ghana, which chairs the council this month.

"They intend to circulate a revised text some time this evening which we would then refer to our capitals for consideration and instructions," Albert Yankey told AFP.

The United States, Britain and France introduced their initial draft Friday after the council heard a report from UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to Myanmar to defuse the crisis.

The text would condemn "the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations" by Myanmar's rulers, urge them to "cease repressive measures" and release detainees as well as all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Yankey said there was consensus on calling the violence by the military regime and its repression of peaceful protests "unacceptable," on the need for dialogue and national reconciliation, and for expressing support for Gambari's mission.

But he noted that China, backed by several other delegations, insisted on replacing the word "condemn" by "strongly deplore" and dropping a reference to consideration of "further steps," suggesting instead that the council continues to monitor the situation.

The Chinese also objected to a detailed formulation in the draft of the steps the Myanmar regime must take to defuse the crisis, the diplomat said.

"China has a key role to play (in the crisis) and needs to maintain communications with the regime. The same applies to Gambari," said Yankey, who noted that members were keen "not to jeopardize" the twin mediation.

"There is no delegation that does not want to see a quick adoption" of the text, he said, adding that all members were ready for compromise.

Yankey said he did not expect the experts to meet again until Wednesday.

The text was debated here amid intense pressure for strong council action from world public opinion following outrage over Myanmar's deadly repression of peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks late last month.

At least 13 people died and more than 2,100 were locked up in the crackdown as security forces moved to crush protests involving up to 100,000 people with live rounds, baton charges and tear gas.

On Saturday, protests were held in several cities around the world in support of Myanmar's embattled pro-democracy movement.

Italy's UN Ambassador Marcello Spatafora for his part stressed that it was urgent for the council to send a "strong, unified" message to Myanmar's ruling junta.

Unlike a resolution, a so-called presidential statement requires the consent of all 15 members to be adopted.

China, which has close ties with Myanmar and favors constructive engagement with its military regime, warned last week that putting pressure on the ruling generals "would lead to confrontation."

The United States has threatened to push for UN sanctions against the military regime, including an arms embargo, if it refuses to halt its crackdown and refused to cooperate with Gambari's mediation for national reconciliation.

But any sanctions resolution was likely to face resistance and possibly a veto from China and Russia, which deem the turmoil in the southeast Asian country an internal matter and not a threat to broader peace and security.

In a conciliatory move apparently aimed at forestalling tough council condemnation, Myanmar's rulers trumpeted the release of hundreds of monks and demonstrators and donated thousands of dollars as well as food and medicines to monasteries in Yangon.

And junta chief Than Shwe named the deputy labor minister, Aung Kyi, as the "manager for relations" with Aung San Suu Kyi, four days after the military supremo made a heavily conditioned offer to meet with the Nobel Peace prize laureate, state television said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has come to symbolize Myanmar's peaceful struggle for democracy, has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest.

Mon Oct 8, 8:16 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - China, backed by several Security Council members, offered various amendments Monday to soften a Western-sponsored statement on the bloody military crackdown in Myanmar.

Experts from the council's 15 members huddled behind closed doors for nearly three hours in "a constructive atmosphere" and the sponsors agreed to come up with a revised text taking into account of the amendments, said a delegate from Ghana, which chairs the council this month.

They intend to circulate a revised text some time this evening which would then refer to our capitals for consideration and instructions," Albert Yankey told AFP.

The United States, Britain and France introduced their initial draft Friday after the council heard a report from UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to Myanmar to defuse the crisis.

The text would condemn "the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations" by Myanmar's rulers, urge them to "cease repressive measures" and release detainees as well as all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Yankey said there was consensus on calling the violence by the military regime and its repression of peaceful protests "unacceptable," on the need for dialogue and national reconciliation, and for expressing support for Gambari's mission.

But he noted that China, backed by several other delegations, insisted on replacing the word "condemn" by "strongly deplore" and dropping a reference to consideration of "further steps," suggesting instead that the council continues to monitor the situation.

The Chinese also objected to a detailed formulation in the draft of the steps the Myanmar regime must take to defuse the crisis, the diplomat said.

"China has a key role to play (in the crisis) and needs to maintain communications with the regime. The same applies to Gambari," said Yankey, who noted that members were keen "not to jeopardize" the twin mediation.

"There is no delegation that does not want to see a quick adoption" of the text, he said, adding that all members were ready for compromise.

Yankey said he did not expect the experts to meet again until Wednesday.

The text was debated here amid intense pressure for strong council action from world public opinion following outrage over Myanmar's deadly repression of peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks late last month.

At least 13 people died and more than 2,100 were locked up in the crackdown as security forces moved to crush protests involving up to 100,000 people with live rounds, baton charges and tear gas.

On Saturday, protests were held in several cities around the world in support of Myanmar's embattled pro-democracy movement.

Mon Oct 8, 11:49 AM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's military junta has appointed a deputy minister to negotiate with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the regime's offer of direct talks, state television said on Monday.

Aung Kyi, a major general who became deputy labor minister last year, would "make contact and deal with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the future," MRTV said, without giving further details.

After the largest anti-junta protests in nearly 20 years, Senior General Than Shwe, whose loathing for Suu Kyi is well known, offered direct talks if she abandoned "confrontation" and support for sanctions and "utter devastation."

There was no reaction from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to Aung Kyi's appointment. But NLD spokesman Nyan Win has said Than Shwe's offer could lead to talks about talks.

Analysts caution against optimism as hopes of change in the past have been dashed so often.

"It's too early to assess this gambit by the regime," a retired professor said. "It comes at a time of mounting pressure from the international community. We need to wait for further movement."

There has been no word from Suu Kyi, 62, who has spent 12 of the past 18 years in detention and is confined to her house in Yangon without a telephone and requiring official permission, granted rarely, to receive visitors.

The New Light of Myanmar, the general's official mouthpiece, suggested on Monday that Suu Kyi would remain under house arrest until a new constitution was approved -- a dim and distant prospect, according to most analysts.

It also gave short shrift to the demands of the thousands who joined last month's protests crushed by the regime.

"The three demands of the protesters -- lowering consumer prices, release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, and national reconciliation -- cannot be satisfied through protest," the paper said in a commentary.

"Now, those responsible are making arrangements to draft the state constitution and collect the list of voters," it added. "When the state constitution is approved, the fulfillment of the three demands will be within reach."

DISCIPLINED DEMOCRACY

Holding a referendum on a new constitution is the fourth stage in a seven-step "roadmap to democracy."

For Suu Kyi, the omens are not good.

Stage One of the roadmap -- a National Convention to draw up the "detailed basic principles" of the charter -- took 14 years.

Furthermore, Stage Two -- "step-by-step implementation of the process necessary for the emergence of a genuine and disciplined democratic state" -- is so unclear few know what it means, let alone when it can be completed.

Stage Three is drafting the constitution, a process that many thought the National Convention was meant to have been doing for the last 14 years of on-off meetings, most of which have been boycotted by Suu Kyi's party.

The NLD won a massive election victory in 1990 only to be denied power by the army, which first seized power in 1962.

Most Western governments dismissed the convention as a sham to cement the generals' grip on power.

Snippets of the "detailed basic principles" of the charter appearing in state media point to little transfer of power to a civilian administration or autonomy for the former Burma's 100-plus ethnic minorities.

The commander-in-chief of the army will be the most powerful man in the country under the constitutional guidelines agreed at the national convention, with the power to appoint the ministers of defense, interior and border affairs.

He will also be able to assume power "in times of emergency."

The junta has cut security in Yangon steadily since it sent in soldiers 10 days ago to end to the biggest pro-democracy protests since 1988. Official media say 10 people were killed, although Western governments say the toll is likely to have been higher.

In 1988, up to 3,000 people are thought to have died in a crackdown over several weeks on protests led by students, as well as the Buddhist monks who spearheaded last month's marches which filled five city blocks at their height.

Mon Oct 8, 10:49 AM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's military government has appointed an official to maintain "relations" with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, state television reported Monday.

Junta leader Than Shwe named the deputy labour minister Aung Kyi "to continue relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the future," state television said, using an honorific to show respect for the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who concluded a mission here last week, had recommended that the junta task an official with maintaining relations with opposition leader, the report added.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the last 18 years, but the military government rarely has any contact with her.

The appointment came just four days after Than Shwe made an offer to meet with her, although the proposal hinged on major conditions including a demand that she drop her support for international sanctions on the regime.

The latest announcement also came with the UN Security Council due Monday to weigh a draft statement condemning the military regime.

The non-binding text, drafted by the United States, Britain and France, was submitted after the world body Friday heard a report from Gambari on his mission to defuse the crisis.

The statement condemns "violent repression of peaceful demonstrations" and urges Myanmar's rulers to "cease repressive measures" and release detainees as well as political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mon Oct 8, 3:42 AM ET

TOKYO - Mourners paid their final respects Monday to a Japanese freelance journalist shot dead by troops in Myanmar while covering mass pro-democracy demonstrations last month.

Kenji Nagai, 50, was killed on September 27 in Yangon as he filmed the crackdown on protesters by Myanmar's junta after demonstrations led by Buddhist monks.

He appeared to have been shot at close range by security forces, according to television footage. Nagai's family members, journalists and refugees who fled the junta lamented his death at the funeral held in Tokyo.

"Journalists keep records and report at the sites of news, and that's their job," said Jiro Ishimaru, the chief editor of Asia Press International, a Tokyo-based cooperative of Asian photo and video journalists.

"He was killed doing his job. This very fact breaks my heart and makes me feel frustrated," said Ishimaru, who met Nagai when reporting at the border between China and North Korea.

Police said Nagai died of massive blood loss after a bullet pierced his liver.

Myanmar insists the killing was an accident but Japan is sceptical of the explanation and has set up a taskforce to investigate whether the shooting was deliberate.

Nagai was employed by APF News, a small agency based in Tokyo that specialises in reports from countries where most Japanese television networks dare not tread.

Much of mainstream Japanese media stay away from combat zones, but a small group of Japanese independent journalists is famed for heading on tough assignments.

Mon Oct 8, 3:26 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Faced with mounting world outrage over violence in Myanmar, the UN Security Council was to meet Monday, under pressure to quickly condemn the military regime for crushing pro-democracy protests.

The 15-member body was to weigh a draft statement that would condemn "the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations" by Myanmar's rulers, urge them to "cease repressive measures" and release detainees as well as all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The non-binding text, drafted by the United States, Britain and France, was submitted Friday to the full council after members heard a report from UN emissary Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to defuse the crisis.

But despite worldwide protests in support of Myanmar's embattled pro-democracy movement, the draft was likely to be toned down at the request of China, Russia and possibly Indonesia, diplomats said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's state press trumpeted the release of hundreds of monks and demonstrators ahead of the council's meeting. State media reported Monday that the junta had donated thousands of dollars as well as food and medicines to monasteries in Yangon, in an apparent gesture of reconciliation.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said more than half of the 2,171 people arrested after the biggest anti-government protests in nearly two decades had been released, repeating figures given on state television.

But army trucks remained stationed at Yangon landmarks Sunday, including by the Sule and Shwedagon Pagodas -- rallying points for last month's demonstrations.

The United States has threatened to push for UN sanctions against Myanmar's ruling generals, including an arms embargo, if they refuse to halt their crackdown and to cooperate with Gambari's mediation for national reconciliation.

But any sanctions resolution was likely to face resistance and possibly a veto from China and Russia, who deem the turmoil in the southeast Asian country an internal matter and not a threat to regional or international peace and security.

Last January, China and Russia used a rare double veto to block a US-sponsored draft resolution that would have called on Myanmar's rulers to free all political detainees and end sexual violence by the military.

A Western diplomat said that council experts would try Monday to work out an amended version of the text which would then be submitted to their ambassadors for approval.

Unlike a resolution, a so-called presidential statement requires the consent of all 15 members to be adopted.

The Western sponsors said they expected approval in the coming days.

On Friday, Gambari said that Security Council unity was "key to really getting Myanmar authorities to move along the lines that we all want, which is a peaceful, democratic Myanmar, with full respect for human rights."

He said that all council members agreed the status quo in Myanmar "is unacceptable and unsustainable" and backed his plan to pay a return visit to Myanmar before mid-November, "to keep the momentum."

China, which has close ties with Myanmar and favors constructive engagement with its military regime, has however warned that putting pressure on the junta "would lead to confrontation."

"If the situation in Myanmar takes a worse turn because of external intervention, it will be the people of the country who will bear the brunt," China's UN envoy Wang Guangya said.

Gambari also noted that council members agreed that Myanmar's partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and regional powers such as China, India and Japan have a key role to play in defusing the crisis.

But council members face intense pressure for tougher action from public opinion and human rights groups.

Yvonne Terlingen, head of Amnesty International's UN office, called on the council to agree "a strong statement expressing its deep concern about continuing human rights violations and calling on the Myanmar authorities to take immediate concrete action to protect human rights."

Sun Oct 7, 5:36 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Faced with mounting world outrage over violence in Myanmar, the UN Security Council was to meet Monday under pressure to quickly condemn the military regime for crushing pro-democracy protests.

The 15-member body was to weigh a draft statement that would condemn "the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations" by Myanmar's rulers, urge them to "cease repressive measures" and release detainees as well as all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The non-binding text, drafted by the United States, Britain and France, was submitted Friday to the full council after members heard a report from UN emissary Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to defuse the crisis.

But despite worldwide protests in support of Myanmar's embattled pro-democracy movement, the draft was likely to be toned down at the request of China, Russia and possibly Indonesia, diplomats said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's state press on Sunday trumpeted the release of hundreds of monks and demonstrators ahead of the security council's meeting on the junta's crackdown.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said that more than half of the 2,171 people arrested after the biggest anti-government protests in nearly two decades had been released, repeating figures given late Saturday on state TV.

But army trucks remained stationed at Yangon landmarks Sunday, including by the Sule and Shwedagon Pagodas -- rallying points for last month's demonstrations.

The United States has threatened to push for UN sanctions against Myanmar's ruling generals, including an arms embargo, if they refuse to halt their crackdown and to cooperate with Gambari's mediation for national reconciliation.

But any sanctions resolution was likely to face resistance and possibly a veto from China and Russia, who deem the turmoil in the southeast Asian country an internal matter that does not represent a threat to regional or international peace and security.

Last January, China and Russia used a rare double veto to block a US-sponsored draft resolution that would have called on Myanmar's rulers to free all political detainees and end sexual violence by the military.

A Western diplomat said that council experts would try Monday to work out an amended version of the text which would then be submitted to their ambassadors for approval.

Unlike a resolution, a so-called presidential statement requires the consent of all 15 members to be adopted.

The Western sponsors said they expected approval in the coming days.

On Friday, Gambari said that Council unity was "key to really getting Myanmar authorities to move along the lines that we all want, which is a peaceful, democratic Myanmar, with full respect for human rights."

He also said that all council members agreed that the status quo in Myanmar "is unacceptable and unsustainable" and backed his plan to pay a return visit to Myanmar before mid-November "in order to keep the momentum, which we must not allow to slip."

China, which has close ties with Myanmar and favors constructive engagement with its military regime, has however warned that putting pressure on the junta "would lead to confrontation."

China's UN envoy Wang Guangya Friday urged the council to adopt "a prudent and responsible approach."

"If the situation in Myanmar takes a worst turn because of external intervention, it will be the people of the country who will bear the brunt," he said.

Gambari also noted that council members agreed that Myanmar's partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and regional powers such as China, but also India and Japan have a key role to play in defusing the crisis.

But council members face intense pressure for tougher action from public opinion as well as from human rights groups.

Yvonne Terlingen, head of Amnesty International's UN office, called on the council to agree "a strong statement expressing its deep concern about continuing human rights violations and calling on the Myanmar authorities to take immediate concrete action to protect human rights."

Sun Oct 7, 6:34 AM ET

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military leaders stepped up pressure on monks who spearheaded pro-democracy rallies, saying Sunday that weapons had been seized from Buddhist monasteries and threatening to punish all violators of the law.

The government also announced dozens of new arrests, defying global outrage over its recent violent crackdown on protestors who sought an end to 45 years of military dictatorship.

Security eased in the largest city of Yangon more than a week after soldiers and police opened fire on demonstrators. Some roadblocks were removed and visitors began trickling back to the heavily guarded Shwedagon and Sule pagodas, the starting and finishing points of protests that began in mid-August over a sharp fuel price increase.

The junta says at least 10 people were killed in its Sept. 26-27 crackdown — though independent sources say the toll was likely much higher — and that some 1,000 remain in detention centers.

At least 135 monks are being held, according to The New Light of Myanmar, a mouthpiece of the junta. It said recent raids on monasteries had turned up guns, knives and ammunition, though it was not yet clear to whom they belonged.

"Monks must adhere to the laws of God and the government," the paper wrote. "If they violate those laws, action could be taken against them."

In addition, 78 more people suspected of involvement in the rallies were being questioned by investigators, it said.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for last month's protests, the biggest in nearly two decades against brutal military rule. The junta's bloody crackdown sparked international condemnation — even from its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Malaysia urged the military regime on Sunday to quickly hold unconditional talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, before the world pushes harder for political change.

The comments by Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar followed a warning from the United States that it would push for U.N. sanctions against Myanmar if it fails to move toward democracy.

China and Russia, however, have expressed opposition to any such action and Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the U.N. General Assembly last week democracy "cannot be imposed from outside."

The junta's propaganda machine, meanwhile, continued to claim massive rallies across the country, allegedly in support of the government. The paper said demonstrators denounced the recent protests "instigated" by some monks and members of Suu Kyi's party.

Demonstrators waved placards and shouted: "We want peace, we don't want terrorists." It reported four rallies in central and northwestern Myanmar, attended by 7,500, 19,000, 20,000 and 30,000 people.

Such rallies are widely believed to be stage-managed by the government, with every family in the district forced to contribute one or two members.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. The current junta came to power after routing a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, killing at least 3,000 people. Suu Kyi's party won elections in 1990, but the generals refused to accept the results.

Sun Oct 7, 5:49 AM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's state press on Sunday trumpeted the release of monks and demonstrators ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss how to handle the junta following its crackdown on street protests.

Security Council members -- under pressure to condemn the military regime after 13 people were killed in its drive to end the escalating pro-democracy rallies -- were to meet on Monday to debate a draft statement on Myanmar.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Sunday that more than half of the 2,171 people arrested after the biggest anti-government protests in nearly two decades has been released, repeating figures given late Saturday on state TV.

The government paper specified that nearly 400 of 533 Buddhist monks detained had been "sent back to their respective monasteries."

Monks led the protests, which at their peak last month attracted 100,000 people to the streets of Yangon, and images of the red-robed clergy bloodied and bruised by security forces shocked many in this deeply Buddhist country.

Army trucks on Sunday remained stationed at Yangon landmarks including the Sule and Shwedagon Pagodas -- rallying points for last month's demonstrations -- but uniformed troops were keeping a low profile on the streets.

The New Light of Myanmar did not mention the UN Security Council, but analysts have said that the regime is trying to make a few token gestures to ward off a harsh Council statement, or possible sanctions.

Myanmar's media last week announced that junta leader Senior General Than Shwe was willing to meet with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but the offer came with heavy conditions attached.

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Myanmar last week to express global outrage at the junta's actions, and was allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the last 18 years under house arrest at her lakeside villa.

The United States has led global calls for her release and warned Friday that it may push for UN sanctions, including an arms embargo, if the ruling generals pursue a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

After Gambari briefed the UN on Friday, the United States, Britain and France circulated a draft of a non-binding statement condemning Myanmar's government, which is due to be debated Monday.

"The Security Council condemns the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions," the text said.

Efforts to chastise the regime could however be scuppered by Myanmar's allies China and Russia, who may work to get the language in the draft toned down and could veto any attempts to impose sanctions on the junta.

Across the globe on Saturday, activists took to the streets in cities from London to Sydney for a day of protest against Myanmar's bloody crackdown. About 300 people also gathered at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok on Sunday.

Sun Oct 7, 5:28 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Faced with mounting world outrage over violence in Myanmar, the UN Security Council was to meet Monday under pressure to quickly condemn the military regime for crushing pro-democracy protests.

The 15-member body was to weigh a draft statement that would condemn "the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations" by Myanmar's rulers, urge them to "cease repressive measures" and release detainees as well as all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The non-binding text, drafted by the United States, Britain and France, was submitted Friday to the full council after members heard a report from UN emissary Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to defuse the crisis.

But despite worldwide protests Saturday in support of Myanmar's embattled pro-democracy movement, the draft was likely to be toned down at the request of China, Russia and possibly Indonesia before it can be adopted by consensus, diplomats said.

The United States has threatened to push for UN sanctions against Myanmar's ruling generals, including an arms embargo, if they refuse to halt their crackdown and to cooperate with Gambari's mediation for national reconciliation.

But any sanctions resolution was likely to face resistance and possibly a veto from China and Russia which both argue that the turmoil in the southeast Asian country is an internal matter that does not represent a threat to regional or international peace and security.

Last January, China and Russia used a rare double veto to block a US-sponsored draft resolution that would have called on Myanmar's rulers to free all political detainees and end sexual violence by the military.

A Western diplomat said that council experts would try Monday to work out an amended version of the text which would then be submitted to their ambassadors for approval.

Unlike a resolution, a so-called presidential statement requires the consent of all 15 members to be adopted.

The Western sponsors said they expected approval in the coming days.

Friday, Gambari said that Council unity was "key to really getting Myanmar authorities to move along the lines that we all want, which is a peaceful, democratic Myanmar, with full respect for human rights."

He also said that all council members agreed that the status quo in Myanmar "is unacceptable and unsustainable" and backed his plan to pay a return visit to Myanmar before mid-November "in order to keep the momentum, which we must not allow to slip."

China, which has close ties with Myanmar and favors constructive engagement with its military regime, has however warned that putting pressure on the junta "would lead to confrontation."

China's UN envoy Wang Guangya Friday urged the council to adopt "a prudent and responsible approach."

"If the situation in Myanmar takes a worst turn because of external intervention, it will be the people of the country who will bear the brunt," he said.

Gambari also noted that council members agreed that Myanmar's partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and regional powers such as China, but also India and Japan have a key role to play in defusing the crisis.

But council members face intense pressure for tougher action from their respective public opinion as well as from human rights groups.

Yvonne Terlingen, head of Amnesty International's UN office, called on the council to agree "a strong statement expressing its deep concern about continuing human rights violations and calling on the Myanmar authorities to take immediate concrete action to protect human rights."

And pressure for a tougher UN response, including sanctions, is likely to grow if Myanmar rulers do not end their repression and start a meaningful dialogue with their opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Sun Oct 7, 3:34 AM ET

LONDON - Protesters across the world demonstrated against Myanmar's bloody crackdown on dissent Saturday, with thousands gathering in London and smaller actions in Sydney, Stockholm, Bangkok, Paris and elsewhere.

The coordinated displays of public condemnation followed the violent crackdown by Myanmar's junta on thousands of activists in late September. At least 13 people were killed and 2,000 detained in the clampdown.

In Britain, Myanmar's former colonial power, thousands crowded through streets behind saffron-robed Buddhist monks who threw petals into the River Thames.

Police said 3,000 people took part. Organisers put the figure at 10,000.

After stopping at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street offices to tie red headbands to the gates, the demonstrators went on to Trafalgar Square to hear MPs, human rights campaigners and Myanmar exiles exhort the United Nations to take action against Yangon's junta.

"Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years," said Amnesty International's secretary general Irene Khan.

Brown issued a message of support to the people of Myanmar, telling them: "The world has not forgotten -- and will not forget -- the people of Burma."

In Sydney, hundreds rallied outside the landmark Opera House. Another 1,000 marched through Melbourne, some carrying red banners that read "no more bloodshed."

Other protests took place in Perth, and in Brisbane, where organiser Natasha Lutes said: "This is about getting a message to the people in Burma.

"They've been struggling to get the message out about the atrocities that are happening in Burma, putting their lives on the line. We want them to know the world has been listening and ordinary people everywhere support them."

Dozens also gathered in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, shouting "Free Burma" and brandishing pictures of Myanmar's pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Campaigners in India were to hold a candle-lit vigil outside a war memorial in the heart of New Delhi.

In Singapore, a vigil outside the Myanmar embassy involving an opposition political party and members of the Myanmar community entered its seventh day on Saturday.

Amnesty International Korea said some 200 protestors, including immigrant workers from Myanmar, would stage a protest outside the country's embassy in central Seoul on Sunday to press for the release of prisoners of conscience.

In Paris, 200 people gathered at a Buddhist temple where they placed yellow roses at the feet of a giant Buddha statue.

A similarly sized demonstration occurred in Vienna, where participants wore saffron as a sign of solidarity. A union leader, Rudolf Hundstorfer, said "we can fear the worst" for those detained in Myanmar.

Brussels, the Belgian city home to the main institutions of the European Union, saw 400 demonstrators gather.

"We have to know where are the people who have been arrested, and they must be freed -- you are their last hope," one of the organisers told the crowd, which included Belgian MPs.

A union tract calling for a boycott of the French oil group Total for continuing to do business with Myanmar was widely applauded.

In the Netherlands, activists announced they had sabotaged a Total petrol station in Oosterbeek, in the centre of the country, and demanded the oil company's immediate withdrawal from Myanmar.

Some 150 people demonstrated in central Stockholm and held three minutes of silence "out of respect for all those who are suffering in Myanmar," said Fredrik Korn, a spokesman for the Swedish branch of Amnesty International.

In the United States, 100 people gathered in front of Myanmar's Washington embassy and then marched to China's. They bore signs criticising the holding of the Olympics next year in Beijing, in the light of China's reluctance to pressure the Myanmar junta over its repression.

About 100 demonstrators gathered in front of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, carrying "Solidarity with Burma" placards and pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi and demanding an end to violence.

The non-government group Canadian Friends of Burma has been holding almost daily vigils for the country for the past two weeks in Ottawa and scheduled a dozen protest rallies in other Canadian cities for the weekend.

Sun Oct 7, 2:36 AM ET

YANGON - The Myanmar junta reduced security in Yangon sharply on Sunday, apparently confident it would face no further mass protests against military rule, but the streets remained unusually quiet and arrests continued.

The last barricades were removed from the centre of the former capital around the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas which were the starting and finishing points of protests soldiers crushed by firing into crowds and arresting monks and other demonstrators.

The few people on the streets said they were still fearful and the Internet, through which dramatic images of the protests and sweeping security force actions to end them reached an outraged world, remained cut off.

People on the streets were too scared to talk despite the ruling generals saying for the first time they were willing to talk to detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, albeit on conditions she is unlikely to accept.

Senior General Than Shwe, the head of the lasted junta in 45 years of unbroken military rule in the former Burma, offered direct talks if Suu Kyi abandoned "confrontation" and her support for sanctions and "utter devastation."

Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, or NLD, said the offer could open a path to talks about talks.

"It is a significant improvement on the past situation. They have never committed themselves to talking to her," he said.

Myanmar analysts caution against optimism as hopes of change in the past have been dashed so often, punctuated by the army killing 3,000 people in crushing an uprising in 1988, and state-run newspapers said more people had been arrested.

They said on Sunday 78 more people suspected of taking part in mass protests which filled five Yangon city blocks had been picked up for questioning.

They said 1,216 people who took part "unknowingly" had been released in the Yangon area after signing pledges not to participate in protests and 398 of the 533 monks taken in monastery raids around the city had been freed.

There was no word on the numbers of arrests and releases in other cities where thousands of people were reported to have protested against military rule, but Nyan Win said a senior NLD member was arrested in the second city of Mandalay overnight.

SMALL HOPES

Yet, there was a small hope international pressure on the junta to begin talks with the NLD, which won a landslide election victory in 1990 the generals ignored, might be having an impact on a regime that rarely takes notice of the outside world.

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, told reporters on Friday after briefing the Security Council on his four-day visit to Myanmar he saw a "window of opportunity" for talks between the junta and Suu Kyi, who met Gambari twice.

"From my own conversation, she appears to be very anxious to have a proper dialogue" provided there were no preconditions, Gambari said.

There has been no word from Suu Kyi, 62, who has spent 12 of the past 18 years in detention and is confined to her house in Yangon without a telephone and requiring official permission, granted rarely, to receive visitors.

But, in what appeared to be another move aimed at deflecting international anger, state television broadcast rare footage of Suu Kyi for the first time in four years on Friday night.

It referred to her respectfully as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a departure from past practice when her father's name, Aung San, was dropped to deny her link to the nation's independence hero.

Britain, France and the United States -- which is pushing for tougher sanctions against the junta -- have circulated a draft statement at the U.N. Security Council that demanded the junta free political detainees and talk to the opposition.

It would have no legal force, but if a strongly worded statement were approved by China, the closest thing the junta has to an ally, it would send a forceful message to the generals.

The junta says 10 people were killed in the crackdown on protests which began with small marches against huge fuel price rises in August and escalated after troops fired over the heads of protesting monks.

Western governments say the toll is likely to be far higher.

Sat Oct 6, 9:38 PM ET

BANGKOK, Thailand - Myanmar's "saffron revolt" has been crushed by an entrenched junta, but the brutality inflicted on Buddhist monks who braved its guns may be the only thing that could splinter the ranks of its fiercely loyal military.

As Myanmar's prisons fill with monks and other demonstrators and the bloodstains of revolt are expunged from the streets, many in Myanmar fear they might never see the return of democracy.

The Southeast Asian nation formerly named Burma has witnessed British colonial domination, a fleeting era of democracy and 45 years of iron-fisted military rule.

Yet the monks are deeply revered in this mostly Buddhist nation, and imprisoning them upsets the faithful, no matter what their occupation or political bent.

"The crackdown by the military against the monks may be a major element in the destruction of the very military unity they seek. Many may be profoundly disturbed by the actions of their colleagues," says David Steinberg of Georgetown University, an author of several books on Myanmar.

The beating and mass arrests of the monks, who led pro-democracy demonstrations last month across the country, struck at the junta's greatest fear — that factions within its ranks may side with those seeking change.

And that side showed unexpected strength. The world was caught by surprise at the determined, organized and wide-ranging opposition that sprang up in the last two months.

Drawn in by graphic images of the crackdown, governments around the world responded with unprecedented condemnation, some sanctions and calls for neighboring China and India, major trading partners of Myanmar, to use their leverage on the junta.

Given the past record, however, neither outside pressure nor possible talks between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are likely to have significant effect on the intransigent leaders.

But the military, in trying to woo a hostile people, has constantly trumpeted an image as Buddhism's protector, building new pagodas, repairing monasteries and offering alms to monks.

"Buddhism has been a critical element in this legitimacy process. But all of a sudden you have delegitimization of a lot of that effort," Steinberg said.

One faithful Buddhist summed up common sentiment after emerging from a pagoda in Yangon last week.

"If the military kill monks, merciful monks, they are not Buddhists, they are savages," the retired teacher said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fear.

Others unleashed their hatred of the regime by screaming abuse and even exposing their genitals to soldiers.

"Terror reigns in Rangoon (Yangon) now, but anger is there also and it's not going away," says Monique Skidmore, a Myanmar expert at Australian National University. "The pro-democracy movement sees this as the beginning of the end (of the junta), even if it takes 10 years."

Red-robed monks, university students, labor activists, ordinary people and remnants of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party all took part in the protests.

"A new generation has emerged of people we have never heard of before. Even if this new movement has been suppressed now, it's not been decapitated, so it may rise again," says Donald M. Seekins, a Myanmar expert at Meio University in Japan.

However the movement shapes up, activists may again have to face the army's guns alone.

Experts, including some Chinese academics, say even Beijing has limited influence over the generals, never mind the United Nations.

"China's soft spot would be a boycott of the Olympics next year. That's something they definitely don't want," says Seekins. "I don't see the American team not going to Beijing, but if there is a boycott movement it would be very embarrassing to China."

Chinese security experts tasked with studying risks to the 2008 Beijing Olympics believe chances of a boycott over Myanmar, Darfur, Tibet or other issues are slim because governments and world leaders are resistant to the idea. President Bush, for one, has already accepted the Chinese president's invitation to attend the games.

World pressure on the junta to hold talks with Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years, also shows little promise.

Following last week's trip by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar, the junta chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, said Thursday that he would be willing to meet with Suu Kyi, but only if she stops calling for sanctions.

However, the two already met five years ago and those talks broke down in acrimony.

"I don't believe there is one shred of evidence that they (the junta) are sincere," says Josef Silverstein, a retired Rutgers University professor who has studied Myanmar for more than half a century. "(Than Shwe) is still the commander and she's expected to come crawling to him on her belly."

Sat Oct 6, 6:01 PM ET

YANGON - The door to talks between Myanmar's ruling generals and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared to be ajar on Saturday as Western powers pressured the junta to begin a dialogue with the opposition.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, or NLD, who initially rejected the junta's offer of talks as unrealistic, said it could clear the way for discussions about discussions.

"We can say it is a significant improvement on the past situation. They have never committed themselves to talking to her," Nyan Win said.

Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who outraged the world by sending in soldiers to crush peaceful monk-led demonstrations last week, offered direct talks if Suu Kyi abandoned "confrontation" and her support for sanctions and "utter devastation."

Myanmar analysts caution against optimism as hopes of change in the past have been dashed so often in 45 years of military rule, punctuated by the army killing 3,000 people in crushing an uprising in 1988.

Two years later, the NLD won a landslide election victory that the generals ignored. Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the past 18 years in detention.

A global day of demonstrations against the junta's actions failed to spark in Asia on Saturday, although several thousand people marched through central London waving placards and wearing red headbands to show solidarity with detained monks.

On the way, they dropped petals into the River Thames and tied ribbons and robes to the gates at the entrance of the road to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street office. Britain is the former colonial power in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

A rally in Tokyo was canceled and one in Bangkok attracted only around 100 people. Dozens of Buddhist monks and women demonstrated outside the Myanmar and Chinese embassies in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

In Australia, 250 mainly Burmese expatriates marched to the Sydney Opera House and 200 protesters gathered in Melbourne.

"We are united in opposition to the military dictatorship in Burma. It's time for the regime to start reconciliation," said Sydney organizer Maung Maung Than.

FOOTAGE OF SUU KYI

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, speaking to reporters after briefing the Security Council on Friday on his four-day visit to Myanmar, said he saw a "window of opportunity" for talks between the junta and Suu Kyi, who met Gambari twice.

"From my own conversation, she appears to be very anxious to have a proper dialogue" provided there were no preconditions, Gambari said.

There has been no word from Suu Kyi, 62, who is confined to her house in Yangon without a telephone and requires official permission, rarely granted, to receive visitors.

But, in what appeared to another move aimed at deflecting international anger, state television broadcast rare footage of Suu Kyi for the first time in four years on Friday night.

It referred to her respectfully as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a departure from past practice when her father's name, Aung San, was dropped to deny her link to the nation's independence hero.

Official newspapers on Saturday quoted a senior junta official as telling Gambari that "anti-government groups should compromise and adjust their policies."

Britain, France and the United States -- which is pushing for tougher sanctions against the junta -- circulated a draft statement to the U.N. Security Council that demanded the junta free political detainees and talk to the opposition.

A statement has no legal force but if a strongly worded text were approved by China, until now Myanmar's closest ally on the council, it would send a forceful message to the junta.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, said he was hopeful of international action given the strong consensus at the Human Rights Council, where even China and Russia agreed to a condemnatory resolution.

Pinheiro has been denied a visa to visit Myanmar for four years but he said he was still hoping to go and that there were positive signs despite the resistance of China and Russia against Security Council action.

"I can't guarantee that something positive will happen but I think that we are living at a moment where things are moving and perhaps this famous 'international community' will have some effect," he said.

The junta says 10 people were killed in the crackdown but Western governments say the toll is likely far higher.

"We believe there have been many more killings than the regime admit," Britain's Brown said. "And we have very grave concerns about hundreds, possibly thousands, of monks, nuns and others who have simply disappeared."

Brown met a delegation of Myanmar democracy campaigners as part of the global day of protests.

"I want the EU to impose further sanctions on the regime to make it absolutely clear we will not tolerate the abuses that have taken place," he told the delegation.

Sat Oct 6, 4:34 PM ET

LONDON - Protests against Myanmar's bloody crackdown on dissenters took place in cities around the world Saturday, with thousands demonstrating in London and smaller gatherings held in Sydney, Stockholm, Bangkok, Paris and elsewhere.

The coordinated displays of public condemnation followed the violent crackdown by Myanmar's junta on thousands of activists in late September. At least 13 people were killed and 2,000 detained.

In Britain, Myanmar's former colonial power, thousands crowded through streets behind saffron-robed Buddhist monks who threw petals into the River Thames.

Police said 3,000 people took part. Organisers put the figure at 10,000.

After stopping at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street offices to tie red headbands to the gates, the demonstrators went on to Trafalgar Square to hear MPs, human rights campaigners and Myanmar exiles exhort the United Nations to take action against Yangon's junta.

"Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years," said Amnesty International's secretary general Irene Khan.

Brown issued a message of support to the people of Myanmar, telling them: "Today is above all about repeating a firm message: the world has not forgotten -- and will not forget -- the people of Burma."

In Sydney, hundreds rallied outside the landmark Opera House. Another 1,000 marched through Melbourne, some carrying red banners that read "no more bloodshed."

Other protests took place in Perth, and in Brisbane, where organiser Natasha Lutes said: "This is about getting a message to the people in Burma.

"They've been struggling to get the message out about the atrocities that are happening in Burma, putting their lives on the line. We want them to know the world has been listening and ordinary people everywhere support them."

Dozens also gathered in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, shouting "Free Burma" and brandishing pictures of Myanmar's pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Campaigners in India were to hold a candle-lit vigil outside a war memorial in the heart of New Delhi.

In Singapore, a vigil outside the Myanmar embassy involving an opposition political party and members of the Myanmar community entered its seventh day on Saturday.

Amnesty International Korea said some 200 protestors, including immigrant workers from Myanmar, would stage a protest outside the country's embassy in central Seoul on Sunday to press for the release of prisoners of conscience.

In Paris, 200 people gathered at a Buddhist temple where they placed yellow roses at the feet of a giant Buddha statue.

A similarly sized demonstration occurred in Vienna, with those taking part wearing saffron as a sign of solidarity. A union leader, Rudolf Hundstorfer, said "we can fear the worst" for those detained in Myanmar.

Brussels, the Belgian city home to the main institutions of the European Union, saw 400 demonstrators gather.

"We have to know where are the people who have been arrested, and they must be freed -- you are their last hope," one of the organisers told the crowd, which included Belgian MPs.

A union tract calling for a boycott of the French oil group Total for continuing to do business with Myanmar was widely applauded.

In the Netherlands, activists announced they had sabotaged a Total petrol station in Oosterbeek, in the centre of the country, and demanded the oil company's immediate withdrawal from Myanmar.

Some 150 people demonstrated in central Stockholm and held three minutes of silence "out of respect for all those who are suffering in Myanmar," said Fredrik Korn, a spokesman for the Swedish branch of Amnesty International.

About 100 demonstrators gathered in front of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, carrying "Solidarity with Burma" placards and demanding an end to violence.

The association "Canadian Friends of Burma" has scheduled about a dozen of protest rallies in other Canadian cities for this weekend.

Sat Oct 6, 3:31 PM ET

LONDON - Several thousand protesters marched through central London on Saturday after a global day of demonstrations against Myanmar's violent suppression of pro-democracy protests failed to take off in Asia.

A rally in Tokyo was cancelled and one in Bangkok attracted only around 100 people. Dozens of Buddhist monks and women demonstrated outside the Myanmar and Chinese embassies in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

In Australia around 250 mainly Burmese expatriates staged a march to the Sydney Opera House and around 200 protesters gathered in Melbourne.

"We are united in opposition to the military dictatorship in Burma. It's time for the regime to start reconciliation," said Sydney organizer Maung Maung Than who called for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners to be freed.

Than said the protests were also aimed at keeping up pressure on the international community to act. "The international response is just getting started, it must get a lot stronger."

One banner at the protest called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, reflecting a view that regional powerhouse China should be exerting more pressure on the junta.

In London, after a delegation met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, campaigners waving placards and wearing red headbands to show solidarity with detained monks marched to a rally in Trafalgar Square. Police said 3,000 took part in the demonstration, but organizers estimated the turnout at 10,000.

On the way, they dropped petals into the River Thames and tied ribbons and robes to the gates at the entrance of the road to Brown's Downing Street office. Britain is the former colonial power in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

CANCELLED PROTEST

A planned protest in Tokyo was cancelled. Organizers said they were satisfied with a U.N. draft proposal on Myanmar on Friday which condemned repression by the junta and demanded it free political detainees and begin dialogue with the opposition.

In Bangkok, about 100 activists shouted anti-junta slogans and waved placards saying "No More Bloodshed" and "Stop Destroying Freedom" as they marched through the Thai capital.

Boonthan Verawongse of the rights group Amnesty International called on the Thai government to put pressure on Myanmar's generals.

"Without intervention by the Thai government and many Asian countries, the Burmese junta will still be very strong and oppress people in the country," he said.

Myanmar receives most of its export earnings from selling gas to Thailand, which is competing against China, India and others for a slice of the country's abundant gas reserves.

Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors condemned last week's ruthless crackdown when soldiers opened fire to clear the streets of the capital of up to 100,000 monk-led protesters, but have so far ruled out sanctions.

State media said 10 people were killed in the violence. "We believe there have been many more killings than the regime admit," Brown said in a statement.

Sat Oct 6, 2:38 PM ET

LONDON - Demonstrators in cities across Europe and Asia joined Saturday in protests against the military junta in Myanmar, where some activists held covert vigils for those killed and arrested in the crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrations.

Hoping to send Myanmar's ruling military generals a message that "the world is still watching," rights group Amnesty International organized marches in more than two dozen Asian, European and North American cities.

Some observers predicted the protests would have minimal effect on an inward-looking military elite that has largely ignored world opinion and pressure during its 45 years in power.

There were no visible demonstrations in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon, where bans on gatherings of more than five people are enforced by soldiers, but some in the city and elsewhere in the country prayed in their homes at the suggestion of a Buddhist monk interviewed by Radio Free Asia's Myanmar-language service.

The military has acknowledged detaining hundreds of Buddhist monks — who are revered in the deeply religious nation and spearheaded the mass demonstrations — and the party of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Saturday that 210 of its members were arrested during the crackdown.

Before demonstrations began in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for new European Union sanctions against the junta, including a ban on future investment in the country, which is also known as Burma.

"The anger of the world has been expressed about the outrages that have taken place against the people of Burma," Brown said during a televised meeting with Buddhist monks gathered in his 10 Downing St. office.

Myanmar monks scattered flower petals in London's River Thames and led about 3,000 people — some chanting "Burma, Burma, Free, Free" to a rally in Trafalgar Square, where Amnesty International's chief Irene Khan declared, "Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years. We will not forget this time round, we will not let the people of Burma down."

The international day of protest began in Melbourne, Australia, where 200 people marched behind a banner demanding "No More Bloodshed." In Sydney, some 200 marchers dressed in colorful clothes to show their support for what some are calling the "saffron revolution" after the Myanmar monks' robes.

In Taipei, hundreds braved a strong typhoon to demand action from the international community. Smaller crowds turned out in Bangkok and Manila. In Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, 300 people attended a candlelight vigil Friday evening.

In Paris, French police blocked several hundred protesters, including monks, from marching on the Chinese Embassy in Paris. The crowd stood in front of the adjacent embassy.

"China has the biggest investments there. Therefore, we would like to go on bended knees and ask them to do something because they are so powerful there," French-British actress Jane Birkin told AP Television News. Birkin has been a leading activist in France against the Myanmar regime.

International condemnation of the junta intensified at the United Nations, with the U.S. warning it would push for U.N. sanctions against Myanmar if it fails to respond to the world's demands for democratic reforms.

But Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the U.N. General Assembly last week that democracy "cannot be imposed from outside" and demonstrators at recent pro-government rallies have carried placards saying "Oppose external interference."

"International public opinion is not enough. It hasn't been as effective as we had hoped. There is hope now that (opposition) is stirring inside the country. It must happen from inside the country, with pressure from outside," said Asda Jayanama, a former Thai diplomat active who watches Myanmar.

Demonstrations that began in mid-August over a sharp fuel price increase swelled into Myanmar's largest anti-government protests in 19 years. The government says 10 people were killed in the subsequent crackdown but dissident groups put the death toll at more than 200.

Sat Oct 6, 11:47 AM ET

Main events in the political history of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma:


• 1824-1886: Britain and Burma fight three wars, and Britain eventually annexes Burma.

• January 1948: Burma wins independence from Britain. Civilian government takes office.

• March 1962: General Ne Win seizes power in a bloodless coup, and the government adopts socialism, leading to economic ruin.

• March 1988: Students battle riot police in the largest city then known as Rangoon, starting a national uprising for democracy in which at least 3,000 are killed by security forces.

• September 1988: Army commander Gen. Saw Maung announces military takeover. Aung San Suu Kyi emerges as pro-democracy leader, forms the National League for Democracy party.

• June 1989: The government renames the country Myanmar and changes the name of capital from Rangoon to Yangon.

• July 1989: Suu Kyi is put under house arrest. She will spend 12 of the next 18 years in detention.

• May 1990: The junta calls general elections. Suu Kyi's party wins landslide victory, but military refuses to hand over power.

• October 1991: Suu Kyi is awarded Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful struggle against the regime.

• July 1992: Gen. Than Shwe takes over as head of the junta.

• November 2005: Government begins moving capital to Naypyitaw, 250 miles north of Yangon.

• Aug. 15, 2007: Government raises fuel prices by as much as 500 percent.

• Aug. 19: Up to 500 people in Yangon stage rare public protest against price increases.

• Sept. 5: Soldiers fire warning shots at monks' protest in Pakokku in the north, reportedly injuring several monks.

• Sept. 22: Up to 10,000 monks protest in the northern city of Mandalay. In Yangon, Suu Kyi greets thousands of monks as they march past her house. It is her first public appearance in more than four years.

• Sept. 24: About 100,000 people led by Buddhist monks demonstrate in the largest anti-government protests since 1988. Security forces respond with mass arrests and beatings.

• Sept. 27: Security forces fire into crowd of unarmed protesters, igniting international outrage. The government says 10 people are killed, but activists put the death toll far higher.

• Oct 2: U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari meets with Than Shwe during a four-day visit, urging the government to stop its crackdown on protesters. He also meets twice with Suu Kyi.

• Oct. 4: Than Shwe says he is willing to meet Suu Kyi, but sets conditions.

Sat Oct 6, 11:16 AM ET

LONDON - Thousands of people took to the streets of central London Saturday in a show of solidarity with democracy protesters in Myanmar.

Organisers of the march told AFP that an estimated 10,000 people had turned out, but police said the figure was about 3,000.

Saffron-robed Buddhist monks led off the marchers from the Tate Britain art gallery after throwing petals into the River Thames opposite.

The marchers, many shouting "Burma, Burma, free, free", stopped outside the British prime minister's official residence on Downing Street and tied red headbands similar to those worn by protesters in Myanmar to the gates.

A rally was then held at Trafalgar Square where a number of MPs, human rights campaigners and Myanmar exiles told the crowd there was an urgent need for United Nations action against the military regime.

Monks began the rally with prayers for peace and an end to the violence.

Amnesty International's secretary general Irene Khan said: "Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years.

"We will not forget this time round, we will not let the people of Burma down.

"I cannot think of a better way of getting the message across today and in the words of (the imprisoned democracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi herself who said the worst prison is fear and the real freedom is freedom from fear.

"That is what we want for the people of Burma: freedom from fear."

Refugee Myo Thien, who fled Myanmar in 2003, said she was encouraged by the world's condemnation of the junta's bloody crackdown on the protesters, adding: "We have had good statements but now we need real action."

Similar protests and vigils took place in other cities and around the world.

Earlier, Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave his support to the marchers, pledged an extra one million pounds in emergency aid to Myanmar and vowed to maintain the pressure on the international community to act.

Sat Oct 6, 8:55 AM ET

YANGON - Myanmar's junta Saturday tried to cool growing UN pressure over its deadly crackdown on peaceful protests, offering talks with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and relaxing its blockage of the Internet.

But analysts warned that the rare gestures offered by the regime appeared to be token efforts to stave off tougher UN action demanded by the United States and other Western countries.

Faced with the biggest protests against military rule in nearly two decades, Myanmar's government launched a bloody crackdown in late September that left at least 13 dead and more than 2,000 locked up.

Across Asia, activists on Saturday took to the streets in cities from Sydney to Bangkok, kicking off a global day of protest against Myanmar's bloody crackdown on dissent.

Hundreds rallied outside Sydney's iconic Opera House, while in Melbourne 1,000 people marched, some carrying red banners that read "no more bloodshed."

In London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a message of support to the people of Myanmar, saying the world was not forgetting them.

"We have not forgotten their courage and dignity, taking to the streets in the face of a brutal regime. We have not forgotten the guns and batons, the arrests and murders which met them," Brown said.

Meanwhile, UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who visited Myanmar to express global outrage at the junta's actions, warned the UN Security Council Friday that the nation's turmoil could have "serious international repercussions."

As Gambari was briefing the Council in New York, state television in Myanmar broadcast images of the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time in at least four years.

The regime also restored some Internet access and announced that it had freed hundreds of detained Buddhist monks who led the protests.

The military, which has ruled this country also known as Burma for 45 years, rarely makes any concessions, but analysts warned the gestures were a bid to ward off tougher international action.

"The regime is trying to cool down international pressure. The junta hopes to defuse pressure as the UN Security Council is likely to take some action against Burma following Gambari's briefing," Thailand-based Myanmar analyst Win Min said.

Junta leader Than Shwe has made a heavily conditioned offer to hold talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, insisting that the Nobel peace prize winner drop her support for sanctions and tell supporters to stop confronting the government.

"It's a mixed signal. It showed Than Shwe at least recognised internal and international calls for dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi," Win Min said.

"But at the same time, the conditions set by the regime were not realistic at all. It looks like the regime really doesn't want to talk to her."

Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest but she remains an international symbol of non-violent struggle against tyranny.

The United States has led global calls for her release and warned Friday that it may push for UN sanctions if the ruling junta kept up a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

After Gambari's briefing, the United States, Britain and France circulated a draft of a non-binding statement condemning Myanmar's government.

"The Security Council condemns the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions," the text said.

Gambari told reporters that there was a consensus among members of the Security Council that the status quo in Myanmar "is unacceptable and unsustainable and probably unrealistic."

He also said Aung San Suu Kyi appeared to be in good spirits when he met her.

"But now I think she wants this to be used as an opportunity to really engage in dialogue with the authorities so that together they can move the country forward," he told CNN.

In Yangon, residents declined to comment on the UN draft statement condemning the junta's actions.

"I don't want to talk about politics. Poor people like me are just trying to survive. Now commodity prices are high, but my salary is still low," said a security guard in his 40s who works at a downtown building.

Myanmar's neighbour China has previously sheltered the generals from action at the United Nations.

China's ambassador to the world body, Wang Guangyam, has warned that pressure for greater democratisation "would only lead to confrontation."

Sat Oct 6, 6:18 AM ET

LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a message of support to the people of Myanmar Saturday, as activists took to the streets around the world in a show of solidarity with democracy protesters.

"Today is above all about repeating a firm message: the world has not forgotten -- and will not forget -- the people of Burma," he said.

"We have not forgotten their courage and dignity, taking to the streets in the face of a brutal regime. We have not forgotten the guns and batons, the arrests and murders, which met them."

In London, Buddhist monks will lead a march from the Tate Britain art gallery on the banks of the River Thames to a rally in Trafalgar Square, central London.

On the way, they will tie red headbands similar to those worn by protesters in Myanmar to the gates of the prime minister's official residence in Downing Street.

Brown repeated his assertion that many more protesters have been killed in Myanmar than the military regime admits and described attacks on monks in their monasteries as "appalling".

London also has "very grave concerns" about "hundreds, possibly thousands" of monks, nuns and others who have not been seen since a bloody crackdown on dissent began, he said, urging foreign governments to keep up the pressure.

"The demonstrators who have made sacrifices, and the brave citizens and journalists who have risked so much to get images and information to the outside world, deserve no less," he added.

Brown wants tougher European Union sanctions against Myanmar and has thrown his weight behind UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in efforts towards political reconciliation and democracy.

He also believes the leader of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in the country's biggest city Yangon, should play a central role.

"I salute and share the commitment of those who will send such a powerful message of support to the people of Burma today -- and of condemnation to the regime that seeks to stifle those same Burmese voices," he added.

Sat Oct 6, 3:45 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Key UN powers stepped up calls for Myanmar to release political prisoners, after an envoy to the repressive state warned of "serious international repercussions" from the bloody turmoil there.

The United States signaled Friday it may push for UN sanctions if the ruling junta kept up a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and western UN powers circulated a draft statement condemning its "violent repression."

"It is ... essential for Myanmar's leadership to recognize that what happens inside Myanmar can have serious international repercussions," the world body's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, said in his first report to UN Security Council since his return Thursday from a visit to Yangon.

"No country can afford to act in isolation from the standards by which all members of the international community are held," he said.

Myanmar's rulers meanwhile broadcast rare footage of detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on state television for the first time in at least four years.

They said they had freed hundreds of detained monks, and restored Internet access after a week -- but only during a military-imposed curfew, users reported. The steps appeared aimed at appeasing the international outrage over their crackdown.

Gambari told CNN International after meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in her Yangon home that she had seemed "encouraged by the fact that the people of Myanmar spoke up."

"But now I think she wants this to be used as an opportunity to really engage in dialogue with the authorities so that together they can move the country forward," he said.

After a closed-door session with Security Council members, Gambari told reporters here Friday that there was a consensus among members that the status quo in the unrest-hit Southeast Asian country "is unacceptable and unsustainable and probably unrealistic."

He also said he was considering a return visit to Myanmar earlier than mid-November, as initially arranged, saying this would be useful "to keep the momentum" generated by his visit earlier this week, which offered "a window of opportunity."

The draft statement circulated late Friday to the council contained an appeal to the ruling generals "to ensure full and unlimited access for Mr. Gambari during his visit."

"The Security Council condemns the violent repression by the government of Myanmar of peaceful demonstrations, including the use of force against religious figures and institutions," said the text, drafted by the United States, Britain and France.

Gambari added that he was awaiting a "concrete" response from the military junta to his call for the release of political prisoners, humanitarian access to those in need, cessation of hostilities against ethnic minorities and for dealing with the underlying cause of discontent.

Taking a more hardline stance, the US ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad told the council Washington was prepared to introduce a sanctions resolution if the military rulers fail to cooperate with Gambari.

The United States has already slapped travel bans on the junta's top leaders and frozen their assets. But there was no indication that the council would consider a sanctions resolution any time soon.

China, which has close ties with Myanmar and favors constructive engagement with its military regime, warned putting pressure on the junta "would lead to confrontation."

China has already opposed past bids for UN sanctions, vetoing a US-sponsored draft resolution in January, along with Russia.

But Myanmar topped the UN agenda again after last week's pro-democracy protests, sparked by a hike in fuel prices, drew more than 100,000 people onto the streets of Yangon, prompting a violent crackdown and more than 2,000 arrests.

Authorities in Myanmar say 13 people were killed in the crackdown on the anti-regime protests, the largest the country has seen in almost 20 years.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed an offer by Myanmar's rulers to meet Aung San Suu Kyi if she drops her call for sanctions against the regime and urged.

The Nobel peace prize laureate, who has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest, is a symbol of the pro-democracy movement. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said she would consider the offer "in a positive light."

Protests against Myanmar's crackdown and in support of Aung San Suu Kyi were expected to take place around the world Saturday.

In one of the first rallies, hundreds of activists took to the streets in New Zealand. Later demonstrations were planned for Taipei, Delhi, Geneva, London, Lisbon and Ottawa.