Australia vetoes Burma's Canberra envoy

"We made it clear to the Burmese that under no circumstances were we going to have somebody from their military regime as an ambassador, as a representative, here in Australia," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

Downer said the rejection of Brigadier General Thura U Thet Oo Maung was almost unprecedented.

"It's a very rare case, and we rejected the nomination," Downer said.

Australia, which has very little trade with Burma, has financial sanctions and visa restrictions in place.

Last week after Burma's military junta cracked down on anti-government protesters, Downer's department called in the acting ambassador to formally protest the human rights violations there.//DPA