Speaking to local and international reporters at the International Airport on Friday evening after a three-day visit to Burma, Nambiar said the decision to release political prisoners lay with Burma’s President Thein Sein.

UN Special Envoy Nambiar addresses the reporters at Rangoon International Airport after 3 days visit this evening

In a dialogue with Burmese government and opposition leaders, which he said was ;forward-looking’, the UN special envoy stressed that the UN looked positively at developments in Burma including the November 2010 elections that brought in a democratically elected government.

The envoy said he had met with government leaders and discussed political and economic developments. He also had a two-hour discussion with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her home in Rangoon.

At a press conference on Thursday at UN headquarters in New York, the spokesperson for UN Secretary general Ban Ki-moon said Nambiar had continuously worked to urge Burma to release all political prisoners, and will continue to raise the issue.

During the visit, he also urged the new government to take advantage of the moment and to make political changes to achieve national reconciliation.