In a strongly worded letter to United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan, an international lobby group today accused him of using his special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, as a 'fig leaf' to cover up UN's failure.

The Burma Campaign UK, also accused governments and the UN of ignoring the crisis in military-ruled Burma. The London-based group has been lobbying for a freer Burma since 1991.

In a statement, its director John Jackson compared Razali to "a lone first world war soldier, pushed over the trench to be shot down by generals every time, while the UN and foreign ministers of Asia and Europe dine on the valiant effort he's making".

He accused Razali of being unable to persuade the Burmese junta to negotiate a programme of reform despite a dozen visits to the Southeast Asian country and not forgetting his thousands of miles covered in international lobbying.

Jackson listed Razali's failure in getting the regime to implement promised changes in the country while acknowledging that he tried his best to do so.

"His mediation has been unable to achieve the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, a substantive dialogue between her and the regime, any serious reduction in the number of political prisoners or any hint at democratic reform.

"There is no doubt that the job is a poisoned chalice and Razali has tried his best but we have to take a hard look at what's been achieved," he said.

He said Razali had not achieved much with his pleas and efforts being categorically rejected by the regime but the Malaysian's role remained useful to governments who hid behind his mandate and refrained from taking any serious action themselves.

The UN special envoy has been criticised over his involvement with a company that does business with the Burmese government but Razali has expressed disappointment with Asean leaders for not doing more to encourage progress in the Burmese talks.

New strategy

Meanwhile, Jackson also questions what the new strategy in regards to Burma is after the current one failed.

"Just as ANC (African National Congress) during apartheid called on the world community to impose economic sanctions against South Africa, so too has the National League of Democracy (NLD) with regards to Burma.

"The NLD must not be ignored simply because Burma's regional neighbours choose to ignore the plight of her people." he said.

The NLD won a national election in Burma in 1990 by a landslide, however the party led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Suu Kyi was not allowed to form the government by the military.

"There seems to be a tragic logic if the people of Burma whom are both oppressed by their rulers and abandoned by neighbouring governments, receive less support from the UN." he said.

He also criticised the National Convention in Burma which began on May 17 about a year after the Depayin massacre which saw a least 70 members and supporters of NLD allegedly killed by military organised thugs.

The National Convention convened to draft a new constitution was adjourned indefinitely last Friday.

"The Bangkok process is dead and Burma's road map to democracy is at a dead end, Asian and European foreign ministers mutter disappointment and do absolutely nothing of substance," he added.

The junta did not include the NLD leadership in its dialogues at the National Convention, which was an outcome of the Bangkok process which resulted in boycotts by the leading political party and other groups.

Suu Kyi still remains under house arrest.