U.N. Envoy Calls Burma Plan 'Progress'

UNITED NATIONS — With Congress urging a rejection of a proposed Burmese constitution that would enshrine the power of the military junta there, a U.N. envoy to the country is listing an action plan put forward by the junta, which includes a national referendum on the constitution, as a sign of progress.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said yesterday that he planned to present the U.N. Security Council with a new proposal for a nonbinding statement on Burma. Other diplomats said, however, that they doubted the council could unite behind any criticism of the Burmese junta's seven-step blueprint proposal. Mr. Khalilzad described the so-called road map for democracy as "flawed."

A proposed resolution in Congress last week urged President Bush to "call for the United Nations Security Council to not accept or recognize" the junta's action plan.

The U.N. envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, acknowledged during yesterday's council session a "lack of immediate, tangible results" from his five-day visit to Burma last week. But he presented the junta's plan, which includes a referendum on the constitution by May and a national election by 2010, as justification for the continued international support of his U.N. mission.

Most of Burma's citizens have yet to see the proposed constitution, as has the country's most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, according to council diplomats. Mr. Gambari told the council that he was shown a copy but that it was written in Burmese, which he cannot read. Under the new document, Ms. Suu Kyi would be barred from running in the proposed national election.

Several council members yesterday voiced agreement with the Burmese ambassador to the United Nations, U Kyaw Tint Swe, who said Mr. Gambari's engagement with the military rulers of his country was a "process, not an event." But, as Britain's U.N. ambassador, John Sawers, noted, a "rather important event" — the referendum on the proposed constitution — is fast approaching.

Mr. Sawers said the council would "judge the referendum by democratic standards." But other diplomats are opposing any council criticism. Most of Burma's "neighboring countries know that the seven-step program represents progress," the Chinese ambassador, Wang Guangya, said.