Myanmar at U.N. blames "opportunists" for demos

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Myanmar's foreign minister accused "political opportunists" on Monday of trying to create a showdown in his country with foreign help so that they could exploit the ensuing chaos.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, U Nyan Win urged the international community to refrain from measures he said would add fuel to the fire.

The minister told the assembly that following days of demonstrations by Buddhist monks and other pro-democracy supporters, "normalcy" had returned to Myanmar, which has been ruled for decades by the military.

Win spoke at the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders as U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari was set to meet Myanmar's senior general, Than Shwe, in a bid to persuade the junta to end its crackdown on the biggest pro-democracy protests in 20 years.

"The situation would not have deteriorated had the initial protest of a small group of activists against the rise in fuel prices not been exploited by political opportunists," Win said.

"They sought to turn the situation into a political showdown aided and abetted by some powerful countries," he added, without identifying the countries.

Security forces had exercised "utmost restraint", but when protesters ignored their warnings "they had to take action to restore the situation. Normalcy has now returned in Myanmar," he told the General Assembly.

Win said Myanmar's government was determined to lead the country towards a "disciplined democracy", in which a convention that ended last month to set principles for a new constitution had been one step.

The United States called the convention a "total sham".

"Recent events make clear that there are elements within and outside the country who wish to derail the on-going process so that they can take advantage of the chaos that would follow," Win said.

"The international community can best help Myanmar by showing greater understanding. They can begin by refraining from measures which would result in adding fuel to the fire," he added, without elaborating.