U.N. chief to visit Japan in June, possibly Myanmar in July+

TOKYO, June 18 Kyodo -
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will visit Japan from June 30 to July 2 for
talks with Prime Minister Taro Aso and other officials, the Japanese Foreign
Ministry said Friday, with climate change, North Korea and U.N. reform issues
likely to appear on the agenda.

Following Ban's planned third visit to Japan since taking the lead at the world
body, U.N. diplomatic sources also referred to the possibility Thursday that he
could continue on to Myanmar in early July.
But the possible visit to Myanmar is ''still under consideration,'' one of the
sources said.
In Tokyo, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, ''We hope that the cooperative
relationship between our country and the United Nations will further deepen
with the visit.'' Ban is also expected to hold talks with Japanese Foreign
Minister Hirofumi Nakasone, it said.
During the talks to take place in Japan, Ban is likely to urge Tokyo to
actively engage in working toward crafting a new carbon-capping pact this year.
Japan, for its part, is expected to seek cooperation on U.N. reform in support
of its drive to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported out of Yangon on Thursday that a
Western diplomat was quoted as confirming that the Myanmar government is ready
to host Ban for a ''very brief visit'' early next month.
A potentially sensitive issue at the moment is the fact that pro-democracy
leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, is currently on trial
on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest after a man swam to her
guarded compound uninvited and stayed two days.
The trial has sparked global protest and drawn outrage as some speculate the
junta is merely using it as a means of keeping her detained through elections
scheduled to take place next year.
If found guilty, Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail. She has been held for
more than 13 of the past 19 years since the junta refused to recognize her
National League for Democracy's landslide victory in 1990.
The High Court in Myanmar on Wednesday said it would hear the appeal for the
reinstatement of two key witnesses in the ongoing trial, according to her
lawyers, but no date has been fixed yet.
During his monthly press conference on June 11, the U.N. chief said that
promoting democratization, including the release of Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners, has been one of his ''top priorities'' and that he has been engaging
with Myanmar's authorities through his special adviser, Ibrahim Gambari.
''When the time is appropriate and conditions are ripe, as I said many times,
I'm ready to visit,'' he said.
Earlier this week, Ban and Gambari received a petition signed by more than
670,000 people worldwide urging them to push for her release.
According to a statement issued by the Czech Republic, whose former President
Vaclav Havel spent years imprisoned for his political activities and helped
publicize the petition, more than 350 political prisoners have been handed
sentences of up to 104 years.
Myanmar, formally named Burma, has been under military rule since 1962.
Ban traveled to Myanmar for the first time last year in the aftermath of the
devastation wrecked by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. He was credited with playing
a key role in pressing the military regime into allowing more relief workers
and supplies into the country.
==Kyodo