U.N. envoy, Myanmar rulers talk

NEW DELHI – A U.N. special envoy arrived in Myanmar on Saturday for talks with the country’s military rulers, whose ruthless crackdown on anti-government protesters has sparked international outrage.

The streets of Myanmar’s main city, Yangon, were empty of demonstrators for the first time in nearly two weeks and devoid of the gunfire and chaos that marked three days of violent suppression by soldiers and police. Security forces continued to patrol and seal off parts of the city, including the monasteries whose monks spearheaded the protests.

After landing in Yangon on Saturday afternoon, U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari immediately traveled to the new capital of Naypyidaw, about 240 miles to the north, where the generals who rule Myanmar live in relative isolation from the people.

It was not clear whether Gambari would be allowed to visit Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and pro-democracy leader who has lived under house arrest for most of the past 18 years. “I expect to meet all the people that I need to meet,” Gambari told reporters in Singapore before departing for Myanmar, also known as Burma.