Myanmar blames 'opportunists'

See if you can spot the BS.....


Myanmar blames 'opportunists'

AP: Gambari meets with Sen. Gen. Than Shwe in bid to end crisis
Win warns international community against "adding fuel to the fire"
Myanmar soldiers detain hunger strikers at a Yangon school

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Myanmar's foreign minister U Nyan Win on Monday blamed intense pro-democracy demonstrations in his country on "political opportunists" and declared that "normalcy has now returned to Myanmar."

His remarks came hours before U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari met with Myanmar's military leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, The Associated Press cited a foreign diplomat as saying on condition of anonymity. No details of the meeting on Tuesday in the junta's remote new capital, Naypyitaw, were available.

The reported meeting followed Gambari's talks with senior government officials in Naypyitaw on Saturday and with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on Sunday to seek a peaceful resolution to the ongoing clashes.

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Win defended what he called the government's "seven-step road map" to draft a new constitution and hold elections.

"Recent events make clear that there are elements within and outside the country who wish to derail the ongoing process so that they can take advantage of the chaos that would follow," he said. "They have become more and more emboldened and have stepped up their campaign to confront the government."

"The situation would not have deteriorated had the initial protest of a small group of activists against the rise in fuel prices not been exploited by political opportunists," Win said. "They sought to turn the situation in a political showdown aided and abetted by some powerful countries."

"The security personnel exercised utmost restraint, and they did not intervene for nearly a month," the foreign minister said. "However, when the mob became unruly and provocative, they were compelled to declare a curfew. Subsequently, when protesters ignored their warnings, they had to take action to restore the situation. Normalcy has now returned to Myanmar."