U.S. Seeks Myanmar Briefing From U.N. 
By The Associated Press
May 22, 2006
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-UN-Myanmar.html

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United States on Monday asked a top U.N. official to brief the Security Council on his visit to Myanmar and his meeting with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to focus scrutiny on the military junta's poor rights record.
China, which has close economic ties to Myanmar, has traditionally opposed such briefings for the attention they bring. Yet there were no objections to the U.S. request for Undersecretary-General Ibrahim Gambari to discuss his trip with the council, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said.
During his trip to the Southeast Asian nation, Gambari pressed the leader of Myanmar's military junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, to restore democracy and cease human rights violations. He also had an hour-long meeting with Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has spent about 10 of the last 17 years in detention, mostly under house arrest.
Gambari's trip was the first in more than two years by a high-level U.N. representative to Myanmar, also known as Burma. It was also the first time a foreigner has met with Suu Kyi since 2004.
''We consider the fact that he had such a meeting to be an important step ahead,'' Bolton said. ''We'd now like to know more about the substance of that meeting.''
The ruling military junta took power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in general elections.
Bolton said the United States was not ruling out ''additional steps'' against Myanmar. He did not elaborate, but that could include seeking council statements or resolutions, rather than private briefings from U.N. officials.
However, China, Russia and several other council members say Myanmar is not a threat to international peace and security and thus should not be brought before the powerful U.N. body. For years, they have stymied British and American efforts to discuss Myanmar in the council.
Gambari returns to the United Nations on Tuesday, when he plans to discuss his trip with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Britain's Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said it was possible that Gambari's briefing to the Security Council could happen next week.