NAYPYIDAW: The UN's new special envoy for Myanmar met with junta officials on Wednesday Aug 16 but did not respond to questions about whether she would meet with the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The UN said that Noeleen Heyzer'sHeyzer's visit to the country will focus on addressing the deteriorating situation and immediate concerns as well as other priority areas of her mandate.
It was not clear whether she would try to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in jail since the military coup and has received another prison term in a secretive junta court on Monday, raising her total sentence to 17 years.
Heyzer left her hotel in a motorcade escorted by police and plainclothes security forces, but she didn't respond to AFP's request for comment on who she would meet on Wednesday.
Myanmar has been roiled in turmoil since the military seized power in February 2021, causing fierce resistance and spawning informal militias.
Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis led by the UN and the regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc have made little progress, with the generals refusing to engage with opponents.
Heyzer, a Singaporean sociologist, was appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last year, replacing Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener.
Schraner Burgener had called for the UN to take very strong measures against the military and was the target of regular broadsides in Myanmar's state-backed media.
Military leaders prevented her from visiting the country, where she had hoped to meet Suu Kyi.
In December, state media reported that the junta had closed her Myanmar office, saying her work had concluded. There have been no reports in state media about whether Heyzer will be allowed to open an office in the country.