ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By LALIT K JHA / UNITED NATIONS | UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari’s visit to Burma in July has been postponed, apparently because the UN is cautious over what the mission might accomplish in the way of tangible results.

Gambari was scheduled to visit Burma sometime this month to revive his efforts towards achieving the UN’s goal of political reconciliation and democracy in Burma and the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

Based on a number of factors, including the limited power of the UN, sources privy to the decision-making process at UN headquarters in New York told The Irrawaddy that the trip has been postponed, at least for now.

Officials said one factor was that at a time when the UN and Asean are busy coordinating humanitarian relief work in the cyclone-hit area of the Irrawaddy delta, the UN does not want to risk another mission with little to show in the way of tangible progress.

The UN's top humanitarian official, John Holms, will continue to lead UN efforts in Burma.

The Burmese military government completed its constitutional referendum, with claims it was supported by 92 percent of the voters, in June. National elections are scheduled in 2010.

Other factors may have included political events in the Sudan, Zimbabwe and the Middle East, which are taking much of the time and attention of the world body.

It was only last year when the Burmese people, led by monks, publicly demonstrated against the military junta, pushing Burma to become a focus of the Security Council and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Diplomatic sources in the UN said the world body would continue to give top priority to its humanitarian relief work in Burma and wait for an appropriate time to revive its political mission when it feels that there is possibility of achieving concrete results.