For her part, Suu Kyi said tough economic sanctions and tourist boycotts against Burma must continue until the military government begins meaningful dialogue. But through all this, Burma's ruling military caste, whose troops gunned down 3000 students at pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, continued to act in its uniquely bizarre way.
State-controlled media reported that General Khin Nyunt, the feared intelligence chief who oversees 1200 political prisoners in the Burmese gulag - a political joke here can mean seven years breaking rocks - used holy water and fragrances to “baptise” a white [albino] elephant, which traditionally represents power and prosperity.
Once prosperous, Burma, with a population of 42 million, now ranks as one of the world's 10 poorest countries after more than four decades of inept mismanagement since General Ne Win seized power in 1962. Per capita income, at £194, is in free fall, and the price of rice has trebled.
Ne Win recently died in disgrace aged 92, arrested by his own proteges, while his son-in-law and three adult grandsons are to be hanged for treason if appeals fail. They were caught with three small voodoo dolls, made to resemble Burma's top three generals, who were enraged that pins had apparently been applied as in the late Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier's Haiti.
State-controlled media reported that General Khin Nyunt, the feared intelligence chief who oversees 1200 political prisoners in the Burmese gulag - a political joke here can mean seven years breaking rocks - used holy water and fragrances to “baptise” a white [albino] elephant, which traditionally represents power and prosperity.
Once prosperous, Burma, with a population of 42 million, now ranks as one of the world's 10 poorest countries after more than four decades of inept mismanagement since General Ne Win seized power in 1962. Per capita income, at £194, is in free fall, and the price of rice has trebled.
Ne Win recently died in disgrace aged 92, arrested by his own proteges, while his son-in-law and three adult grandsons are to be hanged for treason if appeals fail. They were caught with three small voodoo dolls, made to resemble Burma's top three generals, who were enraged that pins had apparently been applied as in the late Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier's Haiti.