Myanmar rejects talks with 'big power bullies'

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Myanmar rejects talks, refusing to talk with what it calls "big power bullies"
U.N. Secretary-General concerned at "lack of progress" in U.N. mission
Wants talks between between Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar's leadership
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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- The military junta has rejected proposed three-party talks that would have included pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying it refuses to bow to "big power bullies."

U.N. diplomat Ibrahim Gambari is likely to leave Myanmar without having met the junta's chief.

It also seemed likely that U.N. diplomat Ibrahim Gambari would leave Myanmar Thursday without having met with the country's most powerful figure -- junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.

Seeking political reform and reconciliation between the ruling military and pro-democracy forces, Gambari had proposed a meeting among Suu Kyi, a regime representative and himself.

Minister of Information Brig. Gen. Kyaw Hsan, quoted in the state-run New Light of Myanmar, said Suu Kyi had yet to respond to the government's request that she refrain from calling for international sanctions against Myanmar -- earlier set as a condition for a dialogue between her and the government.

In what observers said was an angry lecture, Kyaw San said: "I would like you to know that Myanmar is a small nation and if a big power bullies her ... we will have no other way but to face this and endure."

Gambari was dispatched to Myanmar, also known as Burma, after the military stamped out pro-democracy demonstrations in late September by firing on the protesters. Authorities said 10 people were killed, but diplomats and dissidents said the death toll was much higher. Thousands of people were detained.

During that visit, he was able to meet separately with both Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, and Than Shwe.

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But Kyaw Hsan told Gambari Tuesday that the envoy's earlier visit to Myanmar "did not bear fruit as we had expected," and was followed by sanctions from the United States, Australia and the European Union as well as condemnation from the U.N. Security Council.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern later Tuesday at the "lack of progress" in Gambari's latest mission.

Ban said he had instructed Gambari to get talks going between Suu Kyi and Myanmar's leadership, seek the release of all detained monks, students and other demonstrators, and press the government to "take necessary democratic measures."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the U.S. wanted Gambari to be allowed to "convey his message directly to all the parties he wishes to see" so he could tell Myanmar's leaders of "the need for them to change their policies."

Suu Kyi was treated for a minor ailment Friday and Saturday at her home by her personal physician, said a person familiar with her condition who asked not to be quoted by name because news about her is a sensitive topic.

Rumors had swept Yangon that Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, was in ill health. But a spokesman for her National League for Democracy party, Myint Thein, said that "from looking at her physical condition it can be assumed it is not very serious."

Speaking to the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based opposition radio station, the spokesman blamed the problem on a lack of regular visits by her doctor. The junta allows virtually no access to Suu Kyi.

Complicating Gambari's visit is a rift between the regime and the world body. On Friday, the day before Gambari's arrival, the junta announced it would expel the top U.N. official in the country, resident coordinator Charles Petrie.

It accused Petrie of going beyond his duties by issuing a statement criticizing the generals' failure to meet the economic and humanitarian needs of the people, and by saying this was the cause of September's protests.

However, the U.N. special envoy on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, announced Tuesday that he had been invited for a visit next week by the country's military authorities.

Pinheiro, who has been barred from visiting since 2003, said in a statement that he welcomed the invitation to make a five-day visit beginning Sunday.