Ibrahim Gambari, special U.N. envoy to Myanmar, said he feared the death toll in clashes between protesters and police may be far higher than the official one.

At least 10 deaths were reported.

Gambari briefed the Security Council Friday on his recent visit to the country.

Gambari said he feared that the death toll in recent confrontations between protesters and police may be far higher than the official one, the BBC said. At least 10 deaths were reported.

He described mass arrests and beatings of dissidents.

Gambari spent four days in Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma, meeting both Gen. Than Shwe, head of the ruling military junta, and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace prize winner who has been under house arrest for years.

The Security Council agrees that the country has to change, Gambari said.

"To delay the prospect of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Myanmar is to deny to those who deserve it the most -- the people of Myanmar," he said. "They have suffered too much for too long."  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 06 October 2007   

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