Yangon: As the bloody conflict engulfing the nation spirals out of control, state media reported on Monday that former UN chief Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Myanmar.

The military junta has refused to engage with its opponents and has ignored international criticism of its brutal crackdown on dissent, stalling diplomatic efforts to end the crisis that the military's coup in 2021 set off.

Despite being a member of the Nelson Mandela-founded group of world leaders known as "The Elders," which works to promote peace and defuse conflicts, Ban's visit to Myanmar was not made public by the Myanmar media.

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Ban and his group "arrived in Naypyidaw by air yesterday evening," according to the official Global New Light of Myanmar.

The newspaper stated without providing further information that he was greeted by the deputy ministers of defence and foreign affairs. Ban was accompanied by several officials as he arrived at the airport, and a state-run TV report showed him waving for the cameras.

The Elders have been contacted by AFP for comment on Ban's trip. Throughout his tenure as UN secretary general, Ban, who concurrently held the position of South Korea's foreign minister, visited Myanmar several times and had varying degrees of success in his negotiations with the generals.

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He went to the pro-democracy icon in 2009 to put pressure on Than Shwe, the head of the junta at the time, to release Aung San Suu Kyi, but the general blatantly ignored him.

The newspaper stated without providing further information that he was greeted by the deputy ministers of defence and foreign affairs. Ban was accompanied by several officials as he arrived at the airport, and a state-run TV report showed him waving for the cameras.

The Elders have been contacted by AFP for comment on Ban's trip. Throughout his tenure as UN secretary general, Ban, who concurrently held the position of South Korea's foreign minister, visited Myanmar several times and had varying degrees of success in his negotiations with the generals.

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Heyzer later vowed she would not return to the nation unless she was permitted to meet the Nobel laureate after the military turned down her request.
Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 years in prison by the junta in December after a string of secret trials that rights organisations have denounced as a sham.