Wed Sep 26, 10:41 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - After initial resistance from China, the U.N. Security Council issued a statement of concern about Myanmar's violent crackdown on Buddhist monks Wednesday and urged the military regime to let in a special envoy.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, was expected to leave for the region immediately after briefing the emergency council meeting on the fatal violence.

Council diplomats said China, which has close economic ties to Myanmar, didn't want any document issued after the closed-door session but relented and agreed to a brief statement, which was read to reporters by France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert.

"Members of the council have expressed their concern vis a vis the situation, and have urged restraint, especially from the government of Myanmar," the statement said.

The junta's forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in the center of the country's largest city, Yangon, killing at least one person. Dissident groups have claimed the casualty count is higher, with as many as five people killed, including monks.

Ban called on Myanmar's government to exercise its "utmost restraint" and later met one-on-one with Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win. On his way to the meeting, a reporter asked about the five reported deaths and Win replied: "You asked if five people died and we said no."

The council's statement said it "welcomed the decision by the secretary-general to urgently dispatch his special envoy to the region and underlines the importance that Mr. Gambari be received by the authorities of Myanmar as soon as possible."

The United States and the council's European Union members — Britain, France, Italy and Belgium — had condemned the attacks and called on the country's military rulers to stop the violence and open a dialogue with pro-democracy leaders.

"What's going on in Burma is outrageous," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after a luncheon meeting of ministers from the eight major industrialized nations. "The regime needs to stop using violence against peaceful people and get to a dialogue so that they can have reconciliation."

China and Russia contend that the situation in Myanmar is an internal affair and doesn't threaten international peace and security — as required for Security Council action — so getting them to agree to the press statement was considered a positive step.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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