UN chief 'disappointed' with Myanmar leader

YANGON: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ended a mission to Myanmar saying he was "deeply disappointed" that the isolated nation's top military ruler denied him a visit to jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In two days of rare talks with Senior General Than Shwe, the UN chief urged the reclusive 76-year-old leader to release Suu Kyi and other political prisoners ahead of elections scheduled for next year.

But their meetings on Friday and Saturday in Naypyitaw, the junta's remote administrative capital, left Ban saying that his diplomatic gambit had produced no immediate results and amounted to "a setback to the international community's efforts to provide a helping hand to Myanmar".