Burma's junta labels protests 'trivial'

For 11 days in September protests were held in cities across the isolated nation, led by thousands of Burmese monks.

A military crackdown followed, and the official death toll stands at 15, but foreign diplomats and humanitarian agencies believe many more were killed.

Trevor Wilson, Australia's former ambassador to Burma, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program the junta's official response, put to local journalists, shows that Burma is not ready to engage with domestic or international opposition.

"Although what he said is not a surprise, and pretty much the sort of thing that the military have said in the past, there was a definite expectation that the government would enable some kind of consultation process," he said.

"For the government now to turn around and say that there is no role for the NLD in relation to the constitution is a direct contradiction of that move and its also a rebuff to the United Nations".

The generals accuse fake monks of causing trouble at the behest of exiled dissidents and the US Embassy in Rangoon.

The junta says it will continue with its own timetable for democracy, dismissing calls from the international community to move more quickly on reforms.

You can find the full story at the Connect Asia website: http://radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia