United Nations, Oct 10, SPA -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday briefed U.S. First Lady Laura Bush by telephone on the latest developments in Myanmar, while the Security Council pursued efforts to agree to a united response to defuse the crisis. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad revealed that Ban spoke to Mrs. Bush, who has taken a strong interest in Myanmar. U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas confirmed that the secretary-general informed Mrs. Bush of “what had been done.”Last week, the wife of President George W. Bush urged Myanmar’s military rulers to “step aside” and called on the Security Council to issue a resolution calling for a peaceful transition to democracy. On Tuesday, Khalilzad expressed hope that Security Council experts working on a revised statement deploring the military crackdown in Myanmar would “finalize it today.”The non-binding text would urge Myanmar’s military junta to “cease repressive measures” and release detainees and political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. During the experts’ meeting on Monday, China proposed amendments to soften a statement put forward by the United States, Britain, and France last Friday after the council heard a report from U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to Myanmar. China’s amendments, backed by several other delegations, called for replacing the word “condemn” by “strongly deplore” in the draft and dropping a reference to consideration of “further steps,” suggesting instead that the council continues to monitor the situation. Khalilzad delivered his own message to Myanmar’s rulers. “We believe it is very important that progress be made, that prisoners are released, that conditions for Aung San Suu Kyi be improved, that she can prepare for participation in negotiations, that there be negotiations for a transition,” he said.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/489444