Burma appoints a deputy minister to talk with Aung San Suu Kyi

The appointment was made in accordance with the proposal of Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari during his last Burma visit.

China's state-run Xinhua said an earlier government announcement on last Thursday said that Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, is willing to meet and talk personally on conditions with Aung San Suu Kyi, detained general secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Than Shwe made the offer when he met with Gambari on Oct 4 who was on a special mission to Burma.

According to the earlier announcement, Than Shwe will talk personally and directly with Aung San Suu Kyi if she declares to abandon her exerted efforts for confrontation, utter devastation, and imposing all kinds of sanctions including economic sanctions against Burma.

Gambari left here last Tuesday afternoon after concluding his four-day mission to Burma.

Before his ending of the trip, Gambari, special adviser of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, met with Than Shwe in Nay Pyi Taw and twice with Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.

Gambari came on Sept 29 amid widespread mass demonstrations by Buddhist monks and people in several parts of the country. He arrived in Rangoon via Singapore to look into the situation of the country and play the UN's part in seeking for Burma's national reconciliation.