Curfew lifted in two Myanmar cities

YANGON, Myanmar, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Authorities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, have lifted curfews in the country's two largest cities nearly a month before they were to expire.

The curfews were scheduled to be in effect until Nov. 23 in the cities of Mandalay and Yangon, formerly called Rangoon, but authorities Saturday ended the nearly four-week-old restrictions, the China Daily said.

Curfews were imposed following a series of anti-government demonstrations led by Buddhist monks that were put down by military forces.

The lifting of the curfews comes as a special envoy to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is touring Asia as on a fact-finding trip regarding the situation in Myanmar.

Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari has already traveled to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

China Daily said Gambari will also visit India, China and Japan to learn those nations' opinions on the situation in Myanmar before reporting back to the U.N. Security Council.