Myanmar generals not ready for talks: Mediator

De Riedmatten said he hoped something positive would come from UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s mission to the country following the bloody crackdown on mass protests.

“But we must also be very realistic about the situation,” said the Swiss, who represents the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Geneva-based foundation that works to reduce conflict through negotiation.

Myanmar’s generals have “never negotiated anything, they always impose their position and their will, and I do not believe that has changed today,” he said in an interview.

Gambari spent four days in Myanmar, leaving on Tuesday, during which he had talks with junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe and twice with Aung San Suu Kyi.

De Riedmatten, 55, said Gambari’s shuttle diplomacy between the generals’ headquarters in the remote capital of Naypyidaw, and the main city of Yangon where she is under house arrest, possibly allowed an “exchange of views.”

“But it is difficult at this stage to believe that it can be the beginning of a new dialogue,” said the Myanmar-watcher who has had more contact with the opposition leader than any other foreigner in recent years.