UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday warned Burma's military rulers that they must deliver on their pledge to ensure "inclusive, free and fair'' elections next year.
"The (Burma) government needs to deliver on the promise to make the 2010 elections inclusive, free and fair and to take the necessary steps on my specific proposals in the very near future,'' he said as he briefed the UN Security Council on his visit to Burma early this month.
"The choice for Burma's leaders in the coming days and weeks will be between meeting that responsibility in the interest of all concerned, or failing their own people and each one of you,'' the UN secretary general said.
"The world is now watching closely whether they will choose to act in the best interest of their country or ignore our concerns and expectations and the needs of their people,'' he added.
Ban also described as "not only a deep disappointment but also a major lost opportunity for Burma'' the refusal by junta head Senior General Burma Than Shwe to allow him to see jailed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces an internationally condemned trial for violating her house arrest rules, has been either jailed or under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years since the junta refused to recognize her National League for Democracy (NLD)'S victory in Burma's last elections, in 1990.
She faces up to five years in jail if convicted of violating her house arrest rules, after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside home in May.
She has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention since the regime refused to recognize the NLD's landslide victory in the country's last elections, in 1990.
During his visit, Ban pressed Than Shwe to free political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and called for elections scheduled for 2010 to be free and fair.
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- Writer: AFP
