UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (UPI) -- The first high-level talks in more than two years are to be held later this week between the United Nations and Myanmar, formerly Burma.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric Tuesday called the meeting a "potentially important opportunity" to see what can be done to help the Southeast Asian country move in the direction of all-inclusive democracy and human rights.
Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari was to begin, starting Thursday, a three-day visit that was to include meetings with senior government officials, members of civil society and representatives of political parties, including the National League for Democracy.
"The United Nations has not been able to engage to this extent with the Myanmar government and people on the vital issues of democracy and human rights for more than two years," Dujarric told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York.
"The secretary-general views this visit, therefore, as an overdue and potentially important opportunity to assess developments in the country firsthand and to see what more can be done, including by the United Nations, to help Myanmar move in the direction of all-inclusive democracy, sustainable development and true national reconciliation."
Gambari was to convey a clear message that Myanmar's prospects for improved relations with the international community will depend on tangible progress in restoring democratic freedoms and full respect for human rights," the spokesman said.
In recent years U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been pushing the government to move towards democratic rule by releasing all detainees, including democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who has been under house arrest for more than a decade.
Dujarric said Gambari had asked to meet with Suu Kyi.
