United Nations Special Envoy for Burma Razali Ismail today said he has requested permission to make his 10th visit to Rangoon next month to revive talks o­n the Burmese national reconciliation process after a four-month pause.

Razali, who previously visited Burma last November, said several dates have been proposed, the earliest by the middle of next month.

Regular contact

When contacted, he said: "I agree that it has been some time since I was last in (Burma) but the UN has made suggestions for several dates. I hope to be able to go there in mid-April."

Razali declined to say why he has been unable to visit the country over the last few months, but added that his main concern was to ensure that circumstances would facilitate his next visit.

During his last trip, the envoy held separate talks with senior members of the military government, including Burmese Prime Minister General Than Shwe, as well as opposition leaders led by pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi. (photo)

Asked if he had met with Burmese leaders during the recent Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Razali confirmed that he has regularly been in contact with members of the military government.

"I have been in touch with them even if I had not gone there (to Burma)," he said.

Malaysiakini recently learnt that the Burmese delegation to the NAM summit had been drastically scaled down for unknown reasons.

Although Than Shwe and Burmese intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt were initially expected to be in Kuala Lumpur, the delegation was later found to have been led by Foreign Minister Win Aung.

Slow pace

Questioned about the implications of the row last week involving another UN envoy, Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Razali said the incident had no bearing o­n his work in Burma.

"Our areas are not related. (Pinheiro) works o­n human rights issues while my area is o­n the political process. The UN wants to go into (Burma) to help in the process of national reconciliation," he said.

Last week, Pinheiro cut short his mission to Rangoon abruptly after discovering that his interviews with Burmese political prisoners were being secretly recorded.

In a subsequent interview with the BBC, the human rights envoy expressed his disappointment at the slow pace of the reconciliation process, saying that he did not see any progress.

Both the UN envoys' efforts have been observed with increasing pessimism after substantive dialogues failed to materialise between the two Burmese sides.

In an interview last month, Suu Kyi told the BBC that the military leaders remained reluctant to talk even though she and her party, the National League for Democracy, were prepared to co-operate with the army to improve the situation of the people.

Last November, in an exclusive interview with malaysiakini, Razali had expressed his disappointment over the slow pace of reforms, indicating that he might relinquish his post should his efforts to push for dialogue continue to stall.