A UN envoy to Myanmar met Sunday with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and with several members of the military junta that last week crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising, the United Nations said.
The envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, spent more than an hour at a government guesthouse in the main city, Yangon, with Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. He spent Saturday and Sunday nights in the administrative capital, Naypyidaw, 200 miles north of Yangon, where he met with government officials but not the top two leaders.
Soldiers patrolled the quiet streets of Yangon on Sunday after days of the crackdown on demonstrations, led by Buddhist monks, that had grown over more than a week to as many as 100,000 people.
More arrests were reported overnight, and hundreds of monks remained in detention after leading the biggest challenge to the junta since it took power 19 years ago. Rights groups and diplomats said the death toll is far higher than the nine reported by the junta.
“The crackdown appears to have terrified people enough to stay out of the streets,” said the chief U.S. representative in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa. She said some monasteries appeared to be deserted Sunday, adding that “one can only wonder what has happened to all the monks.”
Villarosa said the military must now seek a peaceful resolution through a dialogue with the opposition.
Repeated visits by UN envoys have failed to bring reconciliation between the junta and the political opposition or secure the release of Suu Kyi. Gambari visited her a year ago, the last time she had been seen by any senior foreign diplomat.
“Reconciliation is now farther away than ever from reality,” said Aung Naing Oo, a political analyst from Myanmar who is based in Thailand. “The military’s violent response took the lid off the anger and pent-up frustration that has accumulated over the past 19 years, and it will be difficult for the military administration to put things back in order.”
Analysts say a key to modifying Myanmar’s behavior would be pressure from China, its main trading partner.