The UN Secretary-General today attacked the Burmese military junta’s “abhorrent and unacceptable” crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Rangoon.

Ban Ki Moon demanded that Burma “take bold actions towards democratisation and respect for human rights” after demonstrations led by Buddhist monks were crushed by the army.

The Secretary-General was addressing the Security Council before Ibrahim Gambari, the UN envoy who returned from Burma this week, raised concerns about continuing human rights abuses.

Mr Gambari met General Than Shwe, the head of the Burmese junta, and the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a four-day trip to the country. Through shuttle diplomacy he was able to open the lines of communication between the Government and Ms Suu Kyi for the first time in years.

The junta has now offered to hold a meeting with the democracy leader but only if she agrees to a lengthy list of prohibitive demands.

Despite the slow pace of progress, Mr Gambari said he was cautiously encouraged and could see “an hour of historic opportunity for Myanmar”.

The former Nigerian foreign minister called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma and voiced concern at reports of continuing Government abuses in the wake of last week’s protests.

The junta admitted last night that they had arrested thousands of protesters during the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, but today claimed that all but 109 of the arrested monks have now been released.

Yesterday afternoon, the authorities were persuaded to release a Burmese female employee of the UN in Rangoon, Myint Ngwe Monl, who had been seized with her family. Three other local UN staff have been arrested and released, along with a Burmese man working for the Japanese Embassy.

A Japanese photographer was among the dead on the streets of Rangoon as the military waded in to halt protests last week. The total number of casualties is still disputed and Mr Gambari said there were unconfirmed reports that the number was “much higher than the dozen people reported killed by the Government”.

“Of great concern to the United Nations and the international community are the continuing and disturbing reports of abuses being committed by security and non-uniformed elements, particularly at night during curfew, including raids on private homes, beatings, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances,” Mr Gambari told the Council.

The UN envoy called for the release of all political detainees, particularly the sick and the elderly and welcomed the possible meeting with Ms Suu Kyi.

“This is a potentially welcome development which calls for maximum flexibility on all sides,” he told the Security Council.

“The sooner such a meeting can take place, the better, as it is a first and necessary step to overcome the high level of mistrust between them.

“I sincerely hope that the potential for dialogue will be recognised to the same extent by both sides and that it can translate into concrete steps in the immediate wake of the crisis.”

Mr Gambari insisted that the junta must put a commission into place to study how they can make progress towards democracy.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the Security Council: “If the Burmese regime does not respond constructively to the demands of the international community in a timely manner, the United States is prepared to introduce a resolution in the Security Council imposing sanctions.”

Calls for sanctions to be levied by the UN Security Council will go unheeded, however, as China is prepared to veto any punitive move. They claim that there is no reason to intervene in a purely domestic dispute.

US diplomatic efforts were also faltering today after the US ambassador to Burma admitted that a meeting with the country’s deputy foreign minister was not productive. Shari Villarosa told the Burmese junta's representative that it must end its violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.

“It was not a terribly edifying meeting,” said Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman. “What she heard in private was not very different than what we hear from the government in public.”

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