February 22, 2008
BANGKOK - Thailand’s Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on Thursday welcomed the upcoming visit to Myanmar by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari.
"We support the UN envoy's visit to Myanmar in early March. It is a good thing he travels to Myanmar," Noppadon told reporters via a teleconference from Singapore.
Gambari, who was in Jakarta on Thursday, told reporters that he expected to visit Myanmar in "the first week of March," rather than April 15 -- the date the junta initially said they would receive him.
The issue of detained Aung San Suu Kyi will be raised.
Myanmar's junta announced it would hold a referendum on a new constitution in May to set the stage for the polls.
However, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to run in the elections.
In 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's party scored a landslide victory in polls -- a win the junta never recognised.
