United Nations Sending Special Envoy to Myanmar Region

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Wednesday that he was sending his Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, to the region of Myanmar (formerly called Burma) in response to the worsening situation, including alarming reports of arrests and beatings.

In his statement, the Secretary-General called "again on authorities to exercise utmost restraint towards the peaceful demonstrations taking place."

The U.N. also issued a press release on Wednesday describing the attempts of the Secretary-General, his Envoy, and the Security Council to urge the Myanmar government to exercise restraint and to cooperate with the U.N.

As of the publication of the press release, the Myanmar government appeared not to be cooperating. They had not accepted the Special Envoy's mission, which apparently is necessary for him to enter the country. The U.N. said that the Envoy will "stay in the region, and as soon as he gets the green light he will proceed."

On Wednesday afternoon, the Secretary-General met with Myanmar's foreign minister; the Special Envoy briefed the Security Council; and the Ambassador of France, the current Security Council president, issued a statement expressing the Council's strong support of the Envoy's mission.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, also urged the Myanmar government to allow peaceful demonstrations, and she said that using excessive force and arbitrarily detaining peaceful demonstrators was "strictly prohibited" under international law.

She also expressed concern for the well-being of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent struggles against Myanmar's military dictatorship.