UN Security Council takes no action on coup in Myanmar

The U.N. envoy for Myanmar urged an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Feb. 2 to ensure that "democracy is expeditiously restored" to the Southeast Asian nation, but the United Nations' most powerful body took no immediate action.

Christine Schraner Burgener, the Myanmar ambassador who is currently in Europe, strongly condemned the military's takeover of the government and said the council must "collectively send a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar" and ensure the country "doesn't fall back into isolation."

Diplomats said restoring democracy was the key element of a draft statement prepared for the council to release to the media after the closed-door meeting, along with a condemnation of the military's action and call for the immediate release of all those detained.

But the statement was not issued because it requires support from all 15 council members and the U.N. missions for China and Russia said they needed to send it to their capitals for review, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed. China has close ties to Myanmar.

Schraner Burgener told the council that the Myanmar military's declaration of a state of emergency and detention of top leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi and dozens of lawmakers and civilian officials just as the new parliamentary session was about to open Monday "was surprising and shocking."

The military said the seizure of power was necessary because the government had not acted on the military's unsubstantiated claims of fraud in November's election in which Suu Kyi's party won a majority of seats.

Britain's U.N. ambassador, Barbara Woodward, the current council president, told reporters after the meeting that ambassadors...