U.N. chief Ban may drop plans for Myanmar visit

By Claudia Parsons

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday he would drop plans to make a long talked-about visit to Myanmar unless he is confident it would achieve tangible results in promoting democracy.

Ban has been asked by the U.N. Security Council to do his utmost to pursue reforms in military-ruled Myanmar, which drew international condemnation a year ago for a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters led by monks.

Ban's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, made a sixth visit to the former Burma in August, but failed to meet the 63-year-old Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who has been under house arrest for most of the past five years.

A visit by Ban has long been discussed but no date had been set. Ban made a first visit to Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis in May to pressure the junta to cooperate more with international aid workers.

Ban said he would remain "constantly and personally engaged" in Myanmar.

"I would be willing to (make) a return visit to Myanmar at an appropriate time, but you should also know that without any tangible or very favorable result to be achieved, then I may not be in a position to visit Myanmar," Ban told reporters.

"I'm now in the process of making some groundwork which may allow me to consider my own visit, but ... I need some more time. I will have to consider all the circumstances, (and) when would be appropriate timing for me to visit," he said.

Western countries have condemned as a sham a May referendum on Myanmar's army-drafted constitution, part of a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" that is meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010 and end a nearly 20-year political stalemate.

Gambari has met government officials on his visits to Myanmar but has made little progress in promoting dialogue with Suu Kyi or the release of political prisoners.