yangon • UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived yesterday in Myanmar to try to press the ruling junta to include detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in its plans for a referendum and eventual elections.

Gambari met Foreign Minister Nyan Win, as well as foreign diplomats and UN officials based here, but so far no meetings have been scheduled with the pro-democracy opposition or top junta members.

He has previously been allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and senior government officials, but no talks have been scheduled yet.

On his last visit he was shunned by the regime's reclusive leader, Senior General Than Shwe, and it was unclear if the envoy would see him

this time.

Even Gambari's departure date has not been set, although diplomats expect him to leave on Sunday.

It is Gambari's third visit since last September's deadly crackdown on anti-government street protests, and his first since the junta's surprise announcement last month of a constitutional referendum in May, paving the way for multi-party elections in 2010.

If held, they would be the first elections in the country formerly known as Burma since Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory in 1990 polls.

The junta ignored that result and has kept the Nobel peace laureate under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

The regime has said its new charter will bar Aung San Suu Kyi from running in elections on the grounds that her late husband was foreign, while a new law criminalises giving speeches and distributing pamphlets about the referendum.

"The crucial question now is the conditions for organising the referendum in May," said one western source in Yangon.

Diplomats who met Gambari on Thursday said his priority was to encourage dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the regime.

"He is looking to continue to promote the need for a genuine inclusive dialogue in Burma between all parties, all groups," one western diplomat said.

Western diplomats spoke with Gambari about "the need to have a transparent, fair process in relation to the referendum and the elections,"

he added.

Gambari is expected to press the junta to allow some kind of campaigning during the referendum while looking for ways to include Aung San Suu Kyi and her party in the polls.

However, analysts say that he faces an uphill battle in trying to win any concessions from the unpredictable generals, who have so far resisted outside pressure to reform.

The NLD has warned the constitution "cannot be accepted by the people," but has stopped short of calling for a boycott or urging a "No" vote.

So far, the junta has only been willing to make minor concessions, such as allowing Gambari to visit, despite the worldwide outrage sparked by the bloody repression of September's peaceful marches led by Buddhist monks. Those protests were the biggest challenge to military rule for nearly two decades, and the military responded by opening fire on the crowds.

At least 31 people were killed then, according to the United Nations, while Human Rights Watch has put the toll at more than 100.

The US-based rights watchdog urged the military regime to heed Gambari's calls for a more inclusive election process.

"Gambari should tell the generals that marching a fearful population through a stage-managed referendum will not advance democracy or reconciliation in Burma," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"A referendum under these repressive conditions will only cement in place continued military rule."